Revenge Of The Desperate
by imaninja41
Summary: They've never been trained for this. Not love and loss on this level. Friends are dying, enemies are attacking, hearts are being broken, and their faith is shaking. They can't handle another blow. Eventually, they have to face the cold hard truth. Their team might just be done.
1. Together Again

**WITH KYLER, STAR CITY:**

Kyler glared through the glass at Cheshire, taking the phone off the hook and pressing it to her ear. Cheshire smiled, in an incredibly fake sweet way and slid her phone to her ear.

"Good morning Speedy dear. Thank you for dropping by." She said sweetly. "I have to admit, I was getting lonely in here. Your father hasn't visited me once. I feel a bit abandoned."

"Cut the crap Cheshire." Kyler barked. The guard would have never let Kyler Harper in here, but they had let in Speedy. The familiar rub of red Kevlar and leather against her skin made her feel professional, calm. The ball was in her court. "I'm here for information. Namely the info you got on my team. And even more specific, who you got it from."

Cheshire chuckled, "Well Speedy, since you asked so _nicely_, piss off."

"Cheshire, you were sentenced to ten years, I can get you a deal for only three." Kyler offered. "I just need a name."

Cheshire smirked, "Look kid, you might be one of the best marksmen in the world, but I don't think you know how info suppliers work, they don't give you their real name."

"Then tell me the fake one he gave you." Kyler ordered. "If he's used that name multiple times I might pick up a pattern."

Cheshire paused, "Only three years?"

"You'd go from ten to three with just one name Cheshire." Kyler said, "And remember, I'll know if you're lying."

Cheshire paused, then shook her head, smiling sadly, "You're just like your father-"

"I get that a lot." Kyler waved off, "Name."

"Jeremy Allen Yutan." Cheshire said.

"That is the fakest name I have ever heard." Kyler deadpanned.

"I know." Cheshire laughed, "Good luck finding him kid."

"One more questions, you answer this one, I'll fight the judge tooth and nail to get one more year knocked off." Kyler promised. "Where did he get his info from?"

Cheshire shrugged. "I honestly don't know." She paused, as if unsure about how to put what she wanted to say, "Kid, if I was you, I'd ask myself this: Do I really know my team?"

"I trust them with my life." Kyler said firmly.

"You trust Justin with your life." Cheshire said, "And Conan. But what about that shy little necromancer? What do you really know about her? And that boy? Don't you lot call him Kerosene? Can you trust him with your life, Speedy?"

"My answer remains the same." Kyler said.

"Where you goin kid?" Cheshire asked.

"Team meeting." Kyler answered, standing up and setting the phone down.

Cheshire would only be in for two years.

**WITH CONAN, AT DR:**

I smiled, walking into DR for the first time in months. First day back on the job, after training for so long… I was so ready to jump back in. I wasn't going to just be the token kryptonian anymore, not just the raw muscle.

I walked into the kitchen, seeing Kyler at the counter, stuffing nachos into her mouth. She was so different! Her light brownish-orange hair was gone replaced by a dark chocolate brown, and she had grown it out. It was curly, falling to her shoulders easily, cut into a cute bob. "Hey!" I called happily.

She looked up, and her eyes went wide, "Conan!?"

"Who'd you think?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Not a Star Child wanna-be that's for sure." Justin snorted, walking in as well. "Nice you finally showed up, Kyler's already claimed the nacho bowl. I saved you ice-cream though."

My eyes widened at the sight of Justin, "Oh my God… did Bruce kill you?"

She laughed, lifting her hand up to her lips, fiddling with one of her lip rings. Two tight hoops on her lower lip, snake bite lip rings. And her hair! She used to wear it down, whatever it looked like in the morning was what she walked around all day with. But now… it was pulled up with gel, into a mohawk.

The sides weren't cut drastically, if she washed the gel out, her hair would probably look exactly like it did before I left. She had never worn jewelry before, but now she had a leather bracelet clamped around her right wrist, metal studs and spikes jabbed into it.

Despite her new accessory and hair style, nothing else changed much. No make up, no skirt, no girly sparkly shirt, or stilettos. It wasn't the apocalypse. Yet.

"You're gonna have to close your mouth eventually." Justin said, smirking.

"… Sorry." I mumbled, "Just, surprised. Uh, not that I'm not happy to see you guys but, where's-"

"Snow's in her room, she said she'd be down in a few minutes, but that was half an hour ago." Justin said, shrugging.

"And, everyone else?" I asked.

"Raphael's playing grand theft auto with Michael and Gabriel, Mary is watching, and hogging all the pretzels." Kyler said, smiling. "Brace yourself for Raphael. If you think Justin changed, wait till you get an eyeful of him."

My eyes widened, and I walked to the kitchen door, looking into the living room, seeing Raphael sprawled on the floor. He hadn't gotten one hair cut since I left. His once shaggy skate boy hair had grown out several inches, just making him look more like a beach bum than a skater boy. But that's not what's knew, he's got a big bright red streak in his bangs, it looks pretty cool.

I raise my eyebrows, "Wow."

Justin snorted, "Yeah, he got that dye job last month. He's just been living here alone with Snow for the past few months, I still see him at school, but that's about it."

I smiled, "I'll be right back, gonna go check on Snow."

"Great." Kyler said, liking cheese off her thumb, "Then we can actually start the party."

I fly up the stairs to Snow's room, pushing the door open to see her standing at the edge of her bad, looking that same as always. "Good to see someone hasn't changed."

She looked up at me, a smile spreading across her face, grabbing me into a hug, "Conan! I missed you so much!"

I smiled, pulling back from her. "Missed you too. Now why are you taking so long?"

She sighed, gesturing to her bed, "I have nothing to wear."

"Snow, congratulations, you're a real girl now!" I said happily. "Now, let's see what we got here."

I looked over her bed, littered with outfits. They were all the same, a pair of loose fitting pants, and a shirt that resembled the top half of a Japanese kimono. That's what Snow usually wore, and until now I realize, that's all she had.

I sighed, "Wait here Snow, I think I left some extra clothes in my room."

Snow nodded, "Yeah, you always look nice."

I looked down at my clothes, a dark purple shirt with a black peace sign on it, and a black frilly skirt with dark tie dyed leggings. "Thanks."

I flew to my old room, grabbing some clothed quickly before zipping back to Snow, "Alright, try these on."

She pulled them on quickly, then looked in a tall mirror she had gotten for her room. A baby blue shirt with a white heart on the sleeve and white wings embroidered on the back. A pair of normal straight leg jeans, no holes in the knees.

"Thanks Conan." Snow said, smiling.

"No problem, now come one, before Justin changed her mind about saving me ice-cream."

Snow nodded, "Alright. By any chance do you think-"

"Snow, I'm sure they made chilidogs, but I'm not so sure if Justin's gonna save you any." I chuckled.

"Well let's go then!" Snow demanded, rushing down the stairs.

Everyone else had already started eating, but Snow managed to get a chilidog. Despite that Justin had already eaten three of them.

**WITH JUSTIN:**

As soon as everyone was digging into their ice cream, I pulled Kyler aside, "She give us anything?"

"A name, the guy used a fake one, but it's still useful."

I nodded, "We'll look into it. You search for the name throughout Star city, I'll do the same in Gotham."

"Uh, Justin?" Raphael asked, walking up to us.

"Talk to you later Kyler." I said, "What's up Hot Shot?"

Raphael cleared his throat, "Um, look, this is a big day for all of us, finally back together again, you know? And I couldn't really think of a better time to ask you… would you… um, ya see, there's this concert in town, and I won two tickets off the radio, and I really think you'd like the band, so maybe if you're free tonight, we could go… maybe?"

I paused, a few hundred questions running through my mind, "You mean, as friends?"

"No!" Raphael said quickly, "I mean, uh, like… as… maybe a date?"

I raised an eyebrow, "So, seven months after you work up the nerve to kiss me, you manage to work up the nerve to ask me out on a date?"

"…Is that a yes?"

"That's a 'convince me why I should' and maybe I'll say yes." I said, crossing my arms.

"Uh, because I like you? A lot… and if you don't I'll pester you until you do?"

I rolled my eyes, "Alright kid, you get your date, but I'm not wearing a dress, or heels."

"No problem!" Raphael said, a huge grin spreading across his face. "It's a heavy metal concert, so get ready for a mosh pit!"

"Hey, what band is playing?"

"Oh, it's this older band that's getting together for a reunion, it's called Bullet For My Valentine."


	2. The Talk

Jason could not believe his ears. He stared at Kim, mouth open slightly, shaking his head slowly, "What did… what did you just say?"

Kim sighed, "Justin is going on a date tonight."

"With… with a boy? Like, an actual boy?!" Jason snapped.

Kim nodded.

"No!" Jason screamed, jumping up off their bed, "No, no, no, no, no, no! For the love of God no! _No_!"

"Jason." Kim said firmly, "I've already discussed this with Justin, and given her permission. She's told me a lot about this boy, and I think he's a good kid."

"Who is he?" Jason growled, his hand automatically going to finger the knife strapped to his belt.

"Promise you won't kill him?"

"… When is their date?"

"Tonight."

"I promise I won't kill him tonight." Jason offered.

"You can do better." Kim persisted.

"… I wont kill him, unless Justin asks me to, or he hurts her in any way that I obviously need to avenge." Jason amended.

"Alright, now, are you going to try and scare him away?"

"Only if I decide he's not good enough." Jason offered.

"Alright, his name is Raphael."

"SHE'S GOING OUT WITH HOT SHOT!?" Jason thundered. He couldn't take it anymore, he pulled his fist back, slamming it into the wall right next to the door. "That kid is pathetic!"

"He's a nice boy." Kim protested. "He's coming over to pick Justin up in half an hour, so behave yourself."

"But he's a complete reject!"

"Oh please, when we were dating everyone in school thought you were a reject." Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"That's not the point- wait, they did?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Kim said, frowning. "Now, I've had someone talk to Justin about being smart in relationships, so-"

"Wait, you didn't do it yourself?"

"Of course not, I thought she would benefit better from a male's perspective." Kim said, shrugging.

"Well… who'd you get, Alfred?"

"Ugh, Jason, he's already had to give Bruce, Dick, you, Tim, and Damian the talk, I figured I'd cut him some slack this time."

"So… who is it?"

"Oh, I just figured I'd let them decide between themselves who would do it."

**WITH JUSTIN:**

Bruce frowned down at me as I sat across from his desk, "Alright, now, it's my job to ensure that you at accordingly on this date."

I groaned, "Bruce, do we have to do this!?"

He frowned, "Yes, now, there is only one rule." Bruce straightened up a little, his eyes narrowing, and a glare slipping onto his face. I wasn't dealing with Bruce anymore, this was Batman. "Do. Not. Have. Sex."

"Why?" I asked.

Bruce paused, Batman melting away from his features. "Because… go ask Tim."

* * *

Tim sighed, "Alright Justin, let me give this a shot." He held up a small flash card, "Alright, this is a drawing of a female organ, called an ovary, now, every month-"

"I want a different lecturer."

Tim put down his flashcards, "Oh thank God."

* * *

Damian glared at me, "Alright, now listen, you are, by adoption a Wayne, although you are inferior to me, you are still responsible with finding an appropriate mate for reproduction. Failure to do so will produce inadequate offspring. I will not tolerate-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP!"

* * *

Dick smiled, "Alright Justin, how cute is this guy?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" I paused "Probably a seven."

"Oh, nice one." Dick said, winking, "Now, the important thing to remember, always, always, _always_, use protection. Understand?"

"Yeah, I get it." I said.

Dick pulled out his wallet, "Awesome. Here, take this."

He reached into his wallet, pulling out a little blue square package.

"Oh, alright." I said, reading it, "Flavored?"

"Oops!" He said, snatching it back, "Sorry, that one's for me, here, this one's a glow in the dark one."

"Wow."

"Good, now go have fun you crazy kid!"

"Awesome!"

**WITH KIM:**

"You're kidding me." Jason deadpanned.

"No, I'm not." I said, crossing her arms.

"In that case, you're _killing _me!" He hissed, collapsing down on the bed. "Do you have any idea what those guys are going to tell her!? Tim's never even done it before! Dick and Bruce are complete dogs! I should have done it!"

"Oh man up Jason, you have to realize, Justin and Raphael are the same ages we were when we started dating." I said.

Jason froze, sitting bolt right up, "But- the boy- wait- Justin and him- No!"

"Look, you can either jump on board here, or get out of the way." I said firmly.

"Couldn't I just be the iceberg to their titanic?" Jason asked. "Think about it, this could be fun! They'll just be sailing around in the ocean, and then out of no where, WHABAM! Iceberg Jason sinks their ship, and only Justin survives."

"Jason, do I have to bribe you into behaving?" I growled.

Jason paused, not saying anything for awhile, until he sighed, "No, I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

"Good."

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Raphael knocked on the front door to Wayne Manor, fidgeting with the hem of his black shirt with red skulls zigzagged across it. He shuffled his feet, starring at his neon green Vans and acid wash jeans. The door opened, revealing a tall man with black hair, a white streaking going through the front right bang. "You Raphael?"

"Yeah, uh, yes sir." Raphael mumbled.

"Come on in boy." Jason said, and Raphael stepped in, following Jason into a small sitting room.

Jason sat down in an arm chair, gesturing for Raphael to sit on the loveseat across from him. "So, tell me about yourself."

Raphael sat down, trying to calm his nerves. "Um, well, I've almost finished the year long sidekick… um, preliminary, and I'll be a fully-fledged member of DR pretty soon."

"What are your powers again?"

"I can make and control fire." Raphael said, feeling a little more at ease. Maybe, Justin's dad was just a guy, like him. Yeah, he could do this.

"And I take it you've been learning a little hand to hand?"

"Yeah, Justin's a good teacher."

Jason smiled, obviously proud. "Yeah I know."

Jason cleared his throat, "So, you like my daughter, huh?"

Raphael nodded, "She's… well, she's something else, sir."

Jason nodded, "She's her daddies girl, and her mom's world." Out of no where, Jason pulled out a gun, absentmindedly cleaning the barrel with the edge of his shirt. Raphael fidgeted a little, even though the gun wasn't pointing at him, he still felt a little nervous.

He had smelled a little alcohol on Jason when he came in… Jason wasn't drunk enough to shoot him, was he? "She deserves respect, especially from a slimy, weak, pathetic, no good, dirty, rotten, shell of a man like you."

He was definitely drunk enough.

Jason stopped cleaning the gun, he held it up, pointing it right in the middle of Raphael's forehead, "She'll get respect from you, right?"

"Yes sir." Raphael answered quickly. "The utmost respect. All my respect. I won't try anything sir, I swear."

Jason lowered the gun, satisfied. "Good."

Justin entered the room, "Hey Hot Shot, hey Dad."

Raphael's mouth nearly fell open, Justin looked so hot.

She was wearing cookie monster blue skinny jeans, black knee high converse, and black t-shirt broadcasting BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE in big blue letters.

"Wow…" Raphael said.

Justin raised an eyebrow, "What are you staring at, I dress like this every day."

"You know your hair?" Raphael asked.

"I know of it." Justin said, raising and eyebrow.

"It's all…" Raphael trailed off, staring at her hair. Just a few hours ago it had been her natural blood red color, gelled into a mohawk. Now it was midnight blue, spiked up like a porcupine. "It's all blue…"

"Oh, the dye. It's temporary, it'll wash off." Justin waved off. "You siad this concert was hardcore, figured I would go all out."

Raphael snapped back into reality, "Oh, yeah. You look cool."

Jason cleared his throat, "Alright, you kids have fun, boy, you have her back here let's say ten- no, let's say 'bout nine."

"Dad…"

"Nine thirty." Jason said, "Drive safe."

Justin rolled her eyes, "Alright dad."

"I'll be here when you get back, probably be up all night." Jason waved off, "Watching TV, reading a book, … cleaning my guns."

Raphael practically threw Justin over his shoulder and ran out of the mansion.


	3. IV

I walked into the DR kitchen, yawning, stumbling slightly, reaching for the coffee machine.

Kyler looked me over, smirking slightly, "Someone roasted that marshmallow."

Conan laughed, "Ah, the walk of shame."

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you guys talking about?"

"Justin, you're wearing the same clothes you wore for your date last night, your hair is still blue, and it's _really _messy." Kyler said, trying to suppress laughter. "I never took you for the first date sleeper."

I paused, before realizing what she was talking about, "You jerk! I didn't sleep with him! The reason I didn't take a shower was because the minute I got home last night, Bruce was in a foul mood, saw my hair, freaked out, didn't let me explain, and as a result, made me go through survival training in the woods last night! It lasted from the minute I got home, into the next day, past breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I missed all of them!"

Snow raised an eye brow, snacking on a banana, "Did you pass?"

"Yes." I said proudly, "Which was hard because he roped Tim into following my through to woods with a blow gun, and shooting at me whenever I stood still."

"Poor Tim." Conan laughed.

"So you didn't make love with him last night?" Snow asked.

"No, I never even considered it." I snapped.

"Oh, sound's like Raph is even less of a man that we took him for." Conan laughed.

I growled, "Why are all you guys here, don't you have lives!?

"Actually, the reason I'm here instead of at home, is it's completely awkward." Conan mumbled.

"Why?" Snow asked.

"I brought a girl home last night." Conan sighed, "I just wanted everyone to meet her. Everything went great, but then, after dinner, she kissed me goodnight, in front of everyone, and no one's been able to look me in the eye."

"Oh boohoo!" I snapped. "Conan, you're a lesbian, so I'm fully justified when I say, grow a pair!"

She glared at me, "Todd, shut up. Raphael probably didn't even kiss you, did he?"

"If he did, he would have been shot in the eye." I said.

"So, it wasn't a good date?" Kyler asked.

"Well… the concert was good." I mumbled, "But he rushed me home, and nearly got caught speeding by the cops, trying to get me there by nine thirty. I was at the top of the stairs at nine twenty-eight, I leaned over to kiss him, but he just yanked the door open, and shoved me inside, then took off."

"Considering who your dad is, I'm not surprised Justin." Conan amended.

"Whatever, all I know is that I'm _not _repeating that." I snapped.

"You break his heart yet?' Kyler asked.

"I'll text him later."

"Oh, text message break up." Conan hissed, "Not a good idea, even is you're the girl and he's the guy. Dignify him with a face to face."

"I'll consider it." I waved off, "Kyler, why are you here? It's your day off."

"I've got info for you." Kyler said, "More names, and I think you'll wanna see the list."

"Okay, let's go." I got up, and she followed me out of the room. Conan and Snow aren't stupid. They know we keep secrets from them, and honestly, they don't really care. I'm in the bat family, I'm secretive for a reason. Especially now, when either one of them could be the mole.

Conan was created by Cadmus, and I know they used to have a grip on her mind. They might still have it. She could be the mole and not even know it. Snow is altogether untrustworthy. Her mentor is an enemy of the justice league, and the main reason for Camelot's fall. She joined Morgan Le Fay against Merlin and Arthur, she's not stranger to playing on the villains side. Which is why neither of them have been told anything. I don't have any record from me or Kyler available on any database that they can see. No written files either.

Kyler and I didn't stop until we were jumping rooftops under moonlight, and searching for a good place to debrief. We settled on a little place I liked to call Baskin Robin. She got an Oreo milkshake, I got an Apple Pie Ice-cream milk shake.

"So, what's so important about the list of names?" I asked.

She passed me a piece of notebook paper as all the employees stared at us. We were in costume, so that was understandable. Having Speedy and Black Hood in your ice cream parlor was never a good thing.

I looked over the list, "James Arthur Yates, Jeremy Allen Yutan, Jack Amish Yokel, Jasper Abler Yampa. Okay, I see what you mean."

Speedy nodded, "Yeah, I've read it over and over again, All the names say the same thing with their beginning letters, J A Y."

"So, what does Jay mean?" I asked.

"I've got three ideas." Kyler said, "Jay could be a reference to Blue Jay, your mother."

"Scratch that, his attention is on our team, not her."

"Well, there goes my idea about it being your dad's nick name." Kyler sighed, "Which leaves my last one, Jay might be his real name."

"Do you know where to find him?" I asked.

"He's got a little office in downtown Gotham." Kyler said. "The address is on the other side of the paper. You're gonna have to do this one without me, Red Arrow is putting his foot down, tonight I have to patrol around Star City with him."

"Trying to bond with you like a Dad would?" I asked.

"He's trying, I'm fighting it." Kyler waved off, "I don't consider him my dad."

"I probably wouldn't either. Have fun resisting." I said, waving her off.

The office wasn't hard to find.

**ELSEWHERE IN GOTHAM:**

"Duck babe!" Kim warned Jason.

The were in a shady bar looking for … someone to hit really.

"Thanks, Blue." Red Hood turns around and hit's the thug so hard his jaw is probably dislocated. Kim does a round house kick to the last dirt bag she had lined up.

"I still got it." She proclaims rather proudly.

"Don't recall anyone saying you lost it, beautiful." Jason replies, before turning to the one guy in the room that isn't unconscious." Now, I'm sure you want to tell us who you work for, and, ya know, not get the holy hell kicked out of ya." Kim said.

The man is slightly over weight, and looks like a thug from and old cartoon. Red Hood picks him up by the collar. But before we can even get started, he start's to freak out.

"PLEASE! I DON'T WANNA DIE! If I talk to you, that bastard's gonna have me dead by night fall! He's got connection's to the Yakuza, Triads, Russian mob, you name it!" They couldn't believe it, this guy is so freaked out, he's actually told them everything they wanna know except for a name or were to find him.

"Just give us a name and location, we'll be sure not to mention you." Kim says it rather reassuringly.

The next thing the guy says is "He's an info broker living in down town Gotham. He changes his name all the time."

**WITH JUSTINE**

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I complained, seeing Mom and Dad on the roof of the building the info broker was. I swung down, landing right next to Mom, "What are you guys doing here!?"

Mom looked shocked, "Jus- uh, Black Hood? What do mean what are we doing here? We're chasing a lead we got from a snitch in a local gang. What are you doing here?"

"… Chasing a lead from a snitch I got, he's an info broker." I said, sighing.

" So I guess since we all got here, how about we make this a family venture?" Jason says, with hints of excitement.

I huffed, not wanting Dad to know about the traitor, I guess pinning him for ratting information is off the table now. But at least I'll get to kick some ass with my parents now. "Sure, why not."

We walk in the front door, not really seeing a need to be sneaky, and get to the loft entrance. There's a thick, solid door in between us and the info broker. Kicking it down won't do, it'll take several tried to get it to fall that way, and by the time it breaks, the guy could be long gone. Mom pointes silently to an inner com, "What's his name Red?"

Dad shrugged, "I don't know, Hood?"

"Don't know, but the fake names he uses are pretty common. Try Jeremy Allen Yutan." I offered.

Mom hit the buzzer on the inner com. "Were here to see a Mr. Jeremy Allen Yutan."

After a pause a male voice speaks, "Haven't used that name in month's, but come on in."

We come in to a apartment that is an office on the first floor, and a 'home' on the second.A man in a chair turned away from us speaks, his voice reveals him to be pretty young, probably not even thirty. There's an edge to it, a dangerous edge. "So are you here for information, or to kick my ass? If it's to fight, please know your not the first would be assassin's my competitors have sent."

Dad coolly replies " Were not here to kill you… yet anyway."

The man in the chair appears to be surprised by this. " That voice … it can't be. Jason Todd?"

The man turns around to stare at us, and us back at him. The young man has black hair, green eyes, about 6 feet, and based on what I could tell from his shirt, well muscled.

"Do I know you?" Dad asks, caught of guard by the young man.

"Jason , It's me! IV! That little kid that used to train with you before you became a sensei for the league!" He says enthusiastically. My eyes dart back and forth between them. Who is this guy?

Dad pauses for a moment, then he remembers "IV It is you! Oh man, I haven't seen you in years!" The young man IV rushes up to Jason and pulls him into a bro hug. I'm officially at a loss here…

I raised an eyebrow, turning to Mom, "Who's he?"She shrugged, "No idea, but I swear, he looks a lot like your father when he was a teenager."

I paused, glancing at the two of them, before a little light bulb, no scratch that, a huge, illegal, fire work goes off in my mid"HOLD THE PHONE! DAD YOU SAID I WAS AN ONLY CHILD!" I shouted. Dad has another lovechild. Who's the mom? Talia? Oh, if it is, this guy is so unbelievably dead!

"Easy tiger, I'm not his kid." IV remarks with a smirk. That smirk really makes me _not _believe him. He looks more like Dad than even I do.

I glared at him, "Then how do you guys know each other? And why do you look so similar? I mean honestly dad! Who's this guy's mom!?"

Mom joined in, "Whoever she is, I'm paying her a visit."

Jason goes first "Take it easy girl! I'll explain it, okay? Well, a couple years before you became my apprentice, Justin, I spent some time training with IV's father. The kid and I kinda bonded. We went on a couple mission's for the league together actually.

"What the hell kind of name is IV anyway?" I snapped.

"His tattoo." Dad said, pointing to IV. IV shrugged, then pulled his shirt up, gesturing to his left pectoral muscle. In black Roman numerals a big **IV**.

"Why the Roman numeral four?" I asked.

"That's personal." He waved off.

"And as for the looks?" I asked. I'm still sticking to my theory about another illegitimate child.

"It's just luck of the draw kid. I'm actually gonna turn 21 in a couple months, and if my math is right, your dad was in the ground when I was born." IV said, giving me a wink, "So no worries with the sibling rivalry, alright? And my name isn't IV anymore Jason, I changed it after I bolted from the League, it's Jay now."

"That archer was right." I mumbled.

"Who?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Forget it captain yoga." I snapped, gesturing down to what he was wearing. Yoga pants, and a white t-shirt. "So, someone besides me had the guts to get out of the league?"

"Oh, I'm not the only one." Jay said, "After I left, about three months after actually, I here White Ghost's daughter tried to bolt."

"Dawn!?" I asked, not being able to hide my shock.

"Yeah. She got caught after four weeks, got put through some rigorous punishment." Jay said, "I heard rumors that you went up against her in the last tournament of assassins, one on one?"

"yeah." I said quietly.

"And you let her live, right?" he asked. I nodded. He raised both eyebrows, "That is the bravest thing I've ever heard of, in front of Talia Al Ghul too, and I heard you bad mouthed her in front of everyone. How are you even alive right now?"

"Dumb luck." I mumbled.

"Oh, and Jason, what's with the posse? I've heard the rumors, so I can guess why the kid's here, but what are you doing with Blue Jay? The last time I saw you, you said you wouldn't get back with her if she begged you." Jay's eyes widened, realizing he's said to much.

Dad gulps, and Mom gives Dad a 'we are gonna talk about that later' glare. Then not wanting to keep Jason in the dog house, Jay continues. "Not that I can blame you for getting back with her, you always said she was amazing. And after the stories, and seeing her in person, I can't understand how a smart, gorgeous, classy girl like her could ever go for you!"

Kim gives him a surprised and very amused look before saying "Oh, I think I like him." After a bit more talking, Jason telling Jay about all the changes he's been threw the last few years. Honestly, after hearing him tell our story, I can see why our family is so dysfunctional. Bruce hasn't even spoken to Dad since he got back from London and found out I never got in trouble.

Dad finally get's ready for us to leave before saying "Why don't you come by the manor tomorrow? Around noon?"

Say no, say no!

Jay hesitates for a moment, then replies "That sounds great. Can't wait to meet Kenya and the rest of the family."

I'm already trying to get over the fact that my dad's friend could be trying to kill me, and everyone else on my team, _and _he just got invited to the house when Jay calls out to us.

"By the way, when I'm not working, my full civilian identity is Jay Talon."

This is far from over, this guy is going down. No one messes with what's mine.


	4. Steak And Bread Rolls

Jay sat across from Cheshire, staring her down through the glass, phone both pressed to their ears. Cheshire wouldn't admit it, but she was sweating bullets.

"You know, most people would be a bit grateful for everything I did for you."

Jade gives him her classic Cheshire smirk. "Really? And what exactly did you do for me?"

Jay gives her a mix between a glare and the fakest smile on the planet. "Let's see, I gave you everything you needed and more for your little 'project', gave you extra info to make the kiddies think they had a traitor, oh yes, and I did so for next to no charge!"

"That it?" Anger flashed across Jay's face, and Jade immediately knew, that was the _wrong _thing to say.

"No, that is not it! When you hired me, I was a nobody. After people heard that Cheshire got useful stuff from me, you got my business rolling. That was _months _ago. Since then, I got so many connections now, that the only people with more influence than me in Gotham are Wayne and the Bat. While you got your sweet ass stuck in prison."

Jade just smirks, anger flaring up inside of her. She gave him a little wink. "You think my ass is sweet?"

"Don't try to change the subject. The only reason your not dead is that A. You put me on the map. B. It would cost me money, C. You were a teacher and D. You now owe me a couple of favors."

Jade couldn't help but widen her eyes a bit at that. "How so?"

Jay's expression got serious then, he was done screwing around. "You ratted me out. And I now have the connections to get you taken care of. So you can either take options 1,2 or 3. Option 1, you owe me a few favors, but we let the matter drop. 2 Is you give me an apology and pray to God I feel merciful, or 3. I get your sentenced pushed to life, and I get the guards to do deeply pornographic things to you. Probably won't be to good for your pretty face..."

Cheshire looked him in the eye, hoping to see some form of a bluff, but only saw the gears turning in his head. He was already thinking of how to pull off his threats. Jade didn't want to give him the time to figure it out. " I'll take option 1 please."

"Smart choice. You'll be released in 2 weeks." Jay moves to leave but says one last thing. "Oh, and if you ever sell me out again, I swear to god, me and a few friends'll be going cougar hunting."

Jay leaves, and Cheshire can't help but sigh, rub her temples, and ask herself, "When did I suddenly get owned by some kid who still get's carded at bars?"

**AT WAYNE MANOR:**

Jason laughed after telling Bruce what had happened last night, "I'm telling you Bruce, back in the day, this kid was awesome! He freaking idolized me too! Followed me around like a little lost puppy, didn't talk much, but he was the coolest kid ever."

"Well he's not exactly a kid anymore Dad." Justin said, sliding over the back of the couch, landing next to Jason, and nearly on top of Damian. Damian shoved her off, almost sending her to the floor, but she adjusted quickly, looking straight at her father. "And don't forget, this guy is an intel broker, you found him because he was selling info on the bat family, _and _my team."

Jason just shrugged, "The info on the bat family wasn't anything big, just recent crimes we've been investigating. I mean, come on, was the info on your team that personal? He wasn't giving away your names was he?"

"No, but still Dad!" Justin protested.

"Alright, alright!" Jason said, "Look, when you came to Gotham alone, you didn't exactly make your living honestly either. You were looting dead bodies to get your next meal. Jay was just trying to get by, like all of us."

Tim snorted, "Yeah, by selling us out."

"Look!" Jason snapped, "Jay's had a beyond hard life, alright? I don't wanna hear any insults about him. Got it?"

"Yes sir." Justin said, biting her tongue.

Tim sighed, "Alright, whatever Jason."

"All the same." Bruce said, "We should keep a close eye on them."

Jason sighed, "Alright, fine. Now that that's taken care of, you can come out Jay, I know when you're hiding!"

There was a chuckle form the other corner of the room, "Well, this debate was certainly interesting."

They all looked to the corner of the room, seeing Jay standing there, looking smug as ever. Bruce nearly shorted out, the thought of him not knowing that someone was standing less than ten feet from him. "How did you get into my house without me knowing?"

Jay just shrugged, "You people adopted the shadows, I was born into them."

Justin gritted her teeth, and Kenya hopped down from the couch, pointing at Jay, "Justy, who's that?!"

Justin grinned, and before anyone could stop her, blurted out, "Oh, that? That's Heesa, Heesa fag."

Kenya giggled, and Kim glared at Justin, "Justine-"

"Don't worry about it Kim, from what I've heard about her, that was a polite greeting." Jay shrugged off.

Justin raised an eyebrow, not many people just brushed away her insults like that. She might be… slightly impressed, maybe Jay wasn't so bad-

"Besides," Jay said, grabbing Justin suddenly, and grinding his fist into the top of her head in a noogie, "She's adorable."

No, Jay's still a little douche bag.

Justin shrugged out of his hold, "Screw off!"

Damian piped up, "Yeah, you really shouldn't touch her, she bites."

Jay laughed, and Damian just shook his head, "Well, I warned him."

Jay raised an eyebrow at Justin, "You bite? Seriously?"

Justin leaned into him, getting into his face, "Only if provoked."

Silence rang throughout the room, and Tim, sensing the tension, chuckled to himself, before standing up, "Come one Justin, you missed breakfast and so did I. Alfred's tired, I'll take you to get something to eat at Golden Coral."

Justin hesitated, and Tim went in for the kill, "I'll let you eat all the yeast rolls you want."

Justin stopped her staring contest, following Tim out of the room. "Can I get a steak too?"

"You betcha kiddo. I'll even call Dick so we can all eat together, how's about that."

"Uncle Dick!" Justin said excitedly, practically dragging Tim out of the mansion.

Damian grunted, "Well, we avoided a cat fight at least."

A knife hit the floor right between Damian's thighs. "I HEARD THAT DEMON SPAWN!"

Damian would never admit that he felt like screaming in fear.

**AT GOLDEN CORAL:**

Dick raised an eyebrow after Tim finished telling the story, watching Justin shove a whole yeast roll into the mouth at once, "You aren't gonna put butter or jelly on that?"

Justin shook her head, not bothering to try and talk around food in her mouth.

Tim just laughed, "She's her father's daughter alright."

Justin swallowed her half eaten food, "Yeah, and this guy is bad news, and I don't mean Damian on a sugar high bad news, I mean Daddy bats bad."

Dick paled, "Oh… well, this is bad, if you ever need to camp out away from the manor for a few days-"

He stopped talking, cut off by Justin's phone as it beeped Justin read the text message, and then looked up at Dick "Can I move in?"

Dick's eyebrows shot up, "Uh, Justin… no."

Justin turned to Tim, "Can I move in with you then?"

Tim gulped, "Not to be rude or anything, but I don't think I can uh… support your bread habit."

Justin sighed, "Well, looks like I'm moving into my room at DR."

Dick sighed, "Justin, why?"

"Because Jay is now living two doors down from me." Justin said, venom in her voice.

Tim shook his head, "I'll help you pack."

**LATER AT WAYNE MANOR:**

Jay unpacked his duffle bag, folding all his clothes neatly, taking care to keep them in neat piles in his dresser drawers. He sighed halfway through folding one of his shirts, "Are you going to keep pretending that you don't know I see you?"

He turned around to see Justin leaning against his doorframe, glaring at him. "You got something to say kid?"

Justin glared harder, "Pretty damn convenient for you, huh?"

"What?"

"Moving in here." Justin said, "With all of us, you're closer now."

Jay sighed, "Look, Justin, I only sold that information to get by at first, okay? And after you enter that kind of business, you don't get out. You know what it's like leaving the League, you need all the contacts you can get."

"I'm not making accusations." Justin said, "Yet."

She walked further into the room, right up to jay, getting in his face as best she could. He was half a head taller than her, so intimidation by stature would not work. "But let me make this incredibly clear to you Jay. You sold out my team, you spilled information that only my team, and some of my family knows."

He nodded, "Yes. I did."

"You may not understand this Jay, but in this family, killing doesn't just get you a slap on the wrist, I'm betting Bruce found out about my slip ups from leak you made."

He nodded again, "Most likely."

"Well, that pisses me off." Justin growled, "It would be different I it was just me, but you caused a big problem with my team. We thought there was a mole! Do you know what that does to a team? Any team?"

Jay nodded once more, "It tears it apart, that's why Cheshire wanted to make it look like a mole."

"Here's my point, if any more info leaks that's harmful to my family or my team, it's you I'll go after. If you've heard the rumors, then you know how I roll."

Jay nodded for the last time, "Shoot first, ask questions later."

"Oh, you're so smart." Justin quipped, turning around and leaving.


	5. Card Man Part 1

"And now that asshole moved in, two doors down from me!" Justin complained, giving her locker one last hit, as Valiant, standing a safe distance away, nodded.

"So, you feeling pretty crappy huh?" Valiant asked.

"I feel like I'm the only one in my family who hasn't completely lost their mind!" Justin growled. "I mean, this guy just spells trouble! I still can't get over it! The dude has been there less than a week, and he's managed to spend every waking moment with my family! He's either talking with mom and dad, playing with Kenya and Rango, or helping Alfred with chores! Who helps the butler with chores?! The only good thing that's come of it is that he's the one Kenya goes to when she want to watch those stupid Disney movies! And you wanna know the worst thing about the guy!?"

Valiant sighed, "Sure Justin."

"He's nearly impossible to hate!" Justin snapped, "But I can do it God damn it, because I'm Justin freaking Todd!"

"Well, when I see you this distressed Justin, I have to admit, it kind of makes me…" Valiant sighed, her facial expressions showing her friend sorrow. "Happy!"

"Happy!?" Justin reeled.

Valiant giggled, "Sorry Justin, human nature. That's schadenfreude. Making me feel glad that I'm not you."

Justin frowned, sensing her friend was trying to cheer her up, walking alongside her friend down the school hall, "Well that's not very _nice _Valiant."

"I didn't say it was nice, but everybody does it!" Valiant explained. "You ever clap when a waitress falls, and drops a tray of glasses? And ain't it fun to watch figure skaters, falling on their face! Don't you fell all warm and cozy, watching people out in the rain? That's schadenfreude."

Justin hummed, "Schadenfreude, huh? What's that, some kind of Nazi word?"

Valiant nodded, "Yeah, it's German for happiness at the misfortune of others."

"Happiness at the misfortune of others? Huh, that is German!" Justin laughed, then stopped to think, "Like watching a vegetarian, those creeps, be told they just ate chicken?"

"Or watching a frat boy realize what really happened the night before?" Valiant giggled.

Justin let out a snort, "Oh! oh! I got one! Being on an elevator, when somebody yells, hold the door!"

Valiant slapped a hand on Justin's shoulder, "Yep, and then you say right back, 'No! Screw you lady, that's what stairs are for!' Right?!"

"Uh huh! Like straight a student's getting B's!" Justin agreed.

"Or ex-boy toys getting STD's!"

"Whoa!" Justin said, eyes widening, "Whoa! Whoa! That's not something I'd be happy about, I mean… if they were your boy toys-"

"I'm clean." Valiant batted off.

"Oh. Back to Schadenfreude. Waking doormen form their naps."

"Watching stupid tourists reading maps." Valiant smirked.

"Football players getting tackled."

"CEO's getting shackled."

Justin paused, thinking, "Um… Ah! Seeing actors never reach-"

"The ending of their Oscar speech!" Valiant finished.

They both froze, and Justin sighed, "We just had an Avenue Q moment there, didn't we?"

"Unfortunately."

"Wanna roll with it?" Justin asked.

"Break out into song in the middle of the school hallway?" Valiant asked, then paused, "Hell yeah."

They both locked arms, bursting out into song gleefully, "Schadenfreude! Schadenfreude! Schadenfreude! Schadenfreude!"

Everyone turned to look at them, raising eyebrows and pointing and laughing at the two rebels.

"The world needs people like you and me, who've been tossed around by fate! Cause when people see us, they don't wanna be us, and that makes them feel great!" Valiant sang.

Justin jumped in, "We provide a vital service to society! You and me, it's Schadenfreude, making the world a better place to be!"

They dropped their arms, starting to walk again, before someone called out, "Hey, Justin!"

Justin looked up, seeing Rex walking to her, smiling, "Hey, nice duet."

Justin laughed, "Thanks. Nice bed head."

Rex looked up at his head, running a hand through it to try and smooth it down, "Nice mohawk."

"Nice dog tags." Justin said, smirking at the metal chains dangling from his neck.

"Uh… yeah well… Nice combat boots."

"Nice bracelet." Justin said, grabbing his wrist gently and running her thumb over the yellow W.W.J.D. bracelet.

"… Okay you win." Rex grumbled.

Justin just laughed, "Yep, I always win."

Rex smirked at her, "Always?"

"Always." Justin said confidently.

Someone cleared their throat, and Justin and Rex both looked to see Raphael, standing there, hands in his pockets, smiling pleasantly. Rex raised an eyebrow, "What ya want man?"

Raphael shrugged, stepping between the two of them, ignoring Rex and just turning to Justin, "Hey, Justin, did you like the concert last week?"

Justin nodded, "Yeah, to bad you didn't stay around so I could tell you."

Raphael chuckled nervously, "Yeah, sorry. But in my defense, your Dad is scary, and uh… he's got a lot of guns. So I didn't wanna hang around to long."

Justin nodded, "If you're honestly scared by that, you probably can't handle the rest of my family."

"What!? No way, I can-"

"My little brother is plotting six different ways to kill you the minute I give him the okay." Justin said.

Raphael paled, "Whoa… really?"

"Yeah." Justin said, turning to Valiant, "Bleachers?"

She nodded, "Sure, catch ya later hotties."

Raphael blushed, while Rex just laughed, "Se you later too crazy girl."

The minute the girls were gone, Raphael whirled around, facing Rex head on with the best bat glare he could manage. To his disappointment, Rex just raised an eyebrow, "Uh, something you wanted?"

Raphael nodded, "Yeah, Justin's my girlfriend."

Rex looked at him for a minute, "Is that a joke?"

"No." Raphael growled.

Rex had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, "Oh.. So ah, you gonna tell me to stay away from her?"

Raphael shook his head, "Nah, if I to do that, she'd probably kill me."

Rex bit his tongue harder, "Good call."

"But I will say this." Raphael looked around the hallway, making sure all the other kids had gone to class, before turning to face Rex again. He held his hand up at eye level, and made it into a fist, flames sparking and spreading over his knuckles, "Think twice before you touch my girl."

**AFTER SCHOOL, WITH JUSTIN:**

Justin walked to Kenya's school, seeing her by the car line, waiting with her best friend Alyssa. Justin walked over to them, "Hey dwarfs."

Alyssa giggled, while Kenya pouted. "We're not dwarfs Justy!"

"Yeah, yeah. You're still short." Justin teased.

Kenya crossed her arms, tucking Jabberwocky under her arm, "I thought Jay was walking me home!"

Justin died a little inside. "Well, I just thought I'd come walk you home myself, I mean, I'm your sister an everything, so-"

"ALYSSA!" A woman screamed from her car, "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

Justin looked up, automatically glaring at the woman sitting in the car, Alyssa's mother.

Alyssa cringed, "Coming Mommy! Bye guys."

Alyssa got into the car, her mother rolled her window up, and Justin watched as she pulled away in her car, her mouth moving the entire time. She was still screaming at Alyssa.

"Hey tiger, what ya staring at?"

Justin turned around, seeing Jay standing there, "Oh, uh… nothing. Look, you take Kenya home, numb nuts. I've gotta get to work."

Justin got to DR, and sat down at her computer, looking up Alyssa's parents, looking over their pasts.

Kyler walked in, "Whacha lookin at?"

"Jacinth and David Rosario." Justin mumbled.

"Who are they?" Kyler asked.

"You remember that friend of Kenya's?" Justin asked. "These are her parents, records show DUI, minor robbery, assault charges, and a few other small crimes."

"So? They aren't role models." Kyler concluded. "Sorry to tell you this, but neither is your dad."

"Yeah, yeah sure Kyler." Justin mumbled.

"Something on your mind Justin?" Kyler asked.

Justin sighed, "You know how I was working with Dad for awhile in the League?"

"Back when you were like, ten?"

"Actually, I was about twelve when he let me come out with him on a patrol, we split up when he decided to take down a drug ring, and I was just taking out a few thugs." Justin admitted.

"The point?" Kyler requested.

"I heard screams coming from a small house in the suburbs, I walked into the house, and there was this little girl, laying on the floor, all beat up… her parents were screaming at her." Justin whispered.

Kyler nodded sadly, "Yeah, we've all ran into people like that, you kill them?"

"Painfully." Justin confirmed. "It's just… that look I saw in their eyes when they were hitting their kid, it's the same I see in Alyssa's parents."

Kyler raised an eyebrow, "Justin, I doubt that Alyssa is getting hit, she's to happy. Have you seen that girl smile? If she was being abused, she'd be shy, and scared, I'm actually happy to tell you, you're wrong. Her attitude doesn't match the profile for an abuse victim."

Justin was silent for a minute, "I'm just… gonna check out her parents tomorrow, make sure nothing is going on."

Kyler shrugged, "If you think you need to, by the way, your new house guest sent you this."

Justin took a small brown envelope form Kyler, opening it up. She pulled out crime scene pictures, psychological profiles, and pictures of victims. The thing that was odd, was the several thank you cards.

Kyler raised an eyebrow, "What is all that?"

Justin groaned, "It's a crime he wants me to solve."

**LATER, AT WAYNE MANOR:**

Justin walked into the library, where Jay was leaning over a book, and slapped the crime scene photos in front of him. "What the hell is this?"

He looked up at her, "They call him the card man."

"Yeah, because whenever he kidnaps a kid, he leaves a thank you card at the scene." Justin snapped, "I know, and if it's such a big problem for you, then you find him."

Jay just turned back to his book, "Nah, I'm not really the hero type, I just thought you might be interested."

"In kidnappings that took place five years ago?" Justin snapped, "No thanks."

"More like five hours ago." Jay bantered, "He took another victim this afternoon. I thought since you haven't really had a compelling detective case for awhile, you might wanna look into it, ya know, test your skills."

Justin huffed, "Oh, is this the part where I get all flustered at you hinting at the idea that I'm not a good detective and decide to prove you wrong?"

"No, this is the point where I hand you a photo of the recent victim, and you find it in that black hole you call your heart to save them." Jay said, handing Justin another picture.

Justin froze, "Alyssa."


	6. Card Man Part 2

I perched on the edge of the window, staring in at the private office of NYPD's newest detective, Jonathan Brooks. Born and raised in Brooklyn, exceptional high IQ, worked his way through college on several student grants and scholarships, until he got a doctors degree in psychology, and a masters degree in criminology. He was only twenty-three. African American, covered up Brooklyn accent, six foot eight inches, shaved head, and dark brown eyes.

I jumped into the office, and he jerked up from his chair immediately, tumbling over his desk, yelping, "What the hell-"

"Jonathan Brooks, from Brooklyn, got through college on a miracle, doctors degree in psychology, masters in criminology, and youngest detective to ever be hired by the NYPD, who isn't crooked."

He jumped up, glaring at me, "Yeah, well you're Black Hood, vigilante, criminal, and you have several charges against you in murder."

I raised an eyebrow, "None of them are true."

He stood up a little straighter, brushing the wrinkles out of his monkey suit. "So that's why you're here, to clean your name? Ha."

"No." I said firmly, slapping a file down on the desk. "I'm probably going to be making it dirtier. You know the card man?"

He nodded, "Yeah, serial kidnapper/murderer. Not all victims remains have been found, took a new one just last night. I've been assigned to his case-"

"I know." I cut him off, "And so have I. That girl, Alyssa, I know her, and I'm going to get her back, alive."

"None of his victims have ever been taken back alive."

"Are you telling me you don't have the same intentions?"

"I do, but I also have a badge." He reminded me.

"When you visit the crime scene tonight, I'll be there. I'll have in blue contacts and a red wig, you'll introduce me as a consultant. We'll solve this crime Jon. And we'll do it together."

He shook his head, "Nice try, but I'm not crooked, so you're under arrest-"

"You've been trailing me for two weeks Jon, you've seen me in action, do you really believe that I'd go down like this?"

"… No."

"You can't beat me, so work with me."

"You're a murderer-"

"When you were fifteen, you shot a man in the chest five times, he died instantly."

"He was trying to rape my mother!" He defended, "Don't you dare try to pin me with that-"

"Every person I ever killed was doing something just as, or even more despicable." I spat. "Murder, rape, child molestation, child abuse, it goes down the list. Don't you try to pin me with that either."

He paused, "What makes you think I'll ever want to work with you?"

"Besides the fact that catching the Card Man will do wonders for your career? We both know you're good Jon, but you aren't good enough to catch him, not without my help."

**LATER THAT NIGHT, AT THE CRIME SCENE:**

I walked over to Jonathan as he pulled into the driveway. I was wearing denim straight leg jeans, a white t-shirt, tan trench coat, and a red an black checkered scarf. I kept my fedora pulled down a little, no need to show much face, I might not be Bruce Wayne, but in Gotham city, my face was easily recognized.

"Detective Jon." I greeted.

"Black Hood." He mumbled, walking up to the front door with me. I stopped under the trellis, looking at the vines trailing up and down it, "Jon!"

"What?' He asked, exasperated.

I pointed to a vine, "Freshly broken, from the girl I'd wager, grasping for a handhold."

He nodded, "She's a fighter, that's good."

I snorted, walking past him into the house, "Yeah, if little girls could win fights against grown men, then sure, we'd be in the clear."

He trailed after me, "But, you do that, all the time."

"I'm not a little girl." I corrected, "Female, yes, little girl, no."

"You can't be more than thirteen-"

"I'm sixteen, now shut your trap." I mumbled, looking into the living room to see two men with a camera, directing it at the mother and father. "What are they doing?"

"Oh, that's the news team they sent over, the parents are going to make an appeal to the monster who took their daughter." he explained.

"No!" I protested, and walked over to the camera man, "Uh yea, excuse me, you can't do this."

"We're live in ten buddy." he said, not even paying attention.

"No, you can't-"

"Nine, eight, seven-"

I sighed, pilling my fist back, and slamming it into the camera lens, then shoving it to the floor, smashing it.

"Hey!" He protested.

The father stood up, "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry." I apologized, "I did warn him, and I'll pay for it. I swear. But you can't make an appeal, or your daughter will die."

The mother looked appalled, "What!?"

"I looked into the files of the Card Man. His third victim, Zachary Sheppard, the Card Man kept him alive for two days, his fifth victim, Olivia Dallas he kept alive for not even a full day, his sixth victim, Dean Hammer nearly three days." I explained, "Why the variation?"

Jon spoke up, "Uh, look, they just lost their daughter, they don't need to hear this-"

I shot him a look, "And I'd say a bit of a scare will do them good. Listen, I noticed, the sooner the parents talked to the media, the sooner their children were killed. The Card Man, he feeds off of the media attention. Satisfy him, Alyssa will die, keep him hungry, and we may have three days, at the most."

They looked at each other, before the father turned to Jon, "Is she right?"

Jon raised an eyebrow at me.

I turned to the parents, "I would never jeopardize your daughter's safety, someone has to care about her."

They looked perplexed, until the dad spoke up, "Alright, we'll listen to you."

"Good, now you can start by telling me why you lied to the police." I said.

The Dad's eyes widened, "What are you-"

"You told the police that you left your house last night to go get wine from the liquor store on the corner." I stepped past him, grabbing the wine bottle from the island in the middle of his kitchen, "This is the bottle right?"

"Yes-"

"You lied about where you were then. The liquor store on the corner puts the price tag on the top of the bottle, saves time." I flipped the bottle over, "Tag on the bottom, you, liar."

I glanced around the kitchen, "Well then sir, tell us who she is."

The mom looked at him, "Who is she talking about?"

"His mistress." I explained, "After I looked around your kitchen as I came in, I couldn't help but notice a few things, two pepper shakers, two salt shakers, two cork screws, two sets of silverware. You and your wife were separated for a short time."

I walked over to the island, scooping up the mail piled up there, pushing beer cans out of the way. "During which time, you moved to a small apartment in Rhode Island. I know that because this letter was forwarded to you from there, you forgot your last payment. When you moved back here, you brought all the small kitchenware you had purchased for your apartment. While you were separated, perhaps even before you were separated, you saw another woman, possibly several. I hacked into your cell phone while I was waiting outside, you got a phone call fifteen minutes before you reported your daughter missing. A woman, judging from her voice. Who is she?"

He paused, "A-alright, I dated this stripper for awhile, she called me last night, but I only went and saw her to tell her we could speak anymore-"

The wife jumped up off the ouch, "You cheated on me!? Again!? That's it, I'm leaving!"

She grabbed her jacket, running out of the couch. He rushed after her, "You're not going anywhere you little bit-"

I grabbed the back of his jacket, yanking him down, and planting my foot on his neck. "Let's focus on finding your daughter, shall we? Hooker's name, please."

**LATER, IN JON'S CAR:**

Jon shook his head as we drove, "How did you do that? Ya know, just… understand all of that?"

"No one needs two pepper shakers." I waved off, "Once you learn to look, you'll see a lot more than you thought was there."

Jon nodded slowly, "Ya know, I've been watching you for these past few weeks, and I've got to say, everything I've noticed about you, it indicates an increasing need to be independent, most girls your age don't feel that. It tells me that… you had a pretty rough childhood."

"That's putting it mildly." I said, "Now, story time's over, we've got a name-"

"Yeah, her stage name, Strawberry Lust." He said, "And her bar, Juicy Fruit."

"Then we've got a lead." I said, "Drive."


	7. Card Man Part 3

Jon didn't trust me, that much was pretty damn clear. He was always watching me out of the corner of his eye, asking stupid questions like, "Why do you do it? Why break the law like this?"

"Because the Gotham police force is useless, and you know it. Can you name any police officers who can charge into an unlit building at night, take out twenty highly trained assassins in total darkness, and save the three hostages they've taken as ransom?"

"Of course not." Jon snapped, "Don't you know that I can see there's no right answer to that question?"

"My team can." I replied. "We may seem like a bunch of stupid kids that don't know when to stop fighting, but the reality of it is, that we can't stop fighting. Because those hostages, every civilian, every victim, they're more important than us. Than all of our lives put together."

Jon raised an eyebrow at me as we drove, "So you'd be happy to die for one?"

"For one? Sure, but I'd much rather save a few hundred, maybe a thousand before I go." I explained.

"And where are you going?" He asked. Should have figured this would come up. That rosary around his neck guaranteed that much.

"Hell."

**LATER, AT JON'S OFFICE:**

Jon slapped a cardboard box of files in front of me, "These are the files of every person we suspected to be the card man. Let's go through em together and-"

I took the box from his grasp, slapping the lid back on top. "Absolutely not. Complete waste of time. I've already hacked into the digital copies of these files, and I've already narrowed it down to this one man." I pulled a single file out from the stack, "Aaron Hackle, as I live and breath."

Jon looked over the file, "No way, police cleared him years ago."

"Well, I wasn't around years ago, now was I?" I pointed out. "I was trained by the worlds greatest detective, okay? So when I say I've got your man, I've got your man."

Jon didn't agree at all, he broke off our agreement. It's just what I get for trusting a cop. So, I went without him. Got to Aaron's apartment, and looked in the windows, to discover they had been painted black from the inside.

I rolled my eyes, "Really, could he get any creepier?"

I pulled my fist back, ramming it into the glass. It shattered, and my fist stung, small cuts dotting my knuckles from shards of glass. I hopped in, hitting the ground, to find something strange. No carpet, no wood floors. Just… concrete. Like a garage.

I stood up straight, looking around, taking in even more creepiness. The walls were painted jet black, with red blotches covering the walls and ceiling, not just any red, ore like blood red. I stepped closer to the wall, running my fingers over a red blotch, to discover it wasn't just a blotch. It was a body.

I yanked my fingers back, staring at it. The body had been pressed into the cement wall, before the cement was fully dry, giving the appearance it was just paint. I stepped back from the wall, looking the body over, it wasn't a fully grown person. This was a teenager, not much older than me.

I looked at the skinned face, trying to image what it would have looked like with skin and a full nose. Judging from the jaw line, it was a boy, about five foot ten. Who matched that description? William Benet, the card man's first victim. Why wasn't he decomposed yet? It was more than ten years ago, he should be nothing but bones.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

I whirled around, trying to find a man in the darkness, but couldn't. The room was empty. Except the bodies of victims pressed into walls, the floor, the ceiling.

"My collection, it's truly… breathtaking, is it not?"

I still couldn't see anyone in the room, so I took out a gun, and walked around the room, trying to find a door somewhere in the black and red room.

"Each one of them, distinguished in certain ways. Special. AP students, football stars, protégé's in something… each one of them."

I found the door, also painted jet black, and kicked it off it's hinged, stepping into a hallway also painted black, but there were no bodies here.

"However, I don't seem to have everything."

I walked down the black hallway, gun at the ready. The voice was just… everywhere. It wasn't coming from a single direction, it was just surrounding me.

"I don't have one of you. A vigilante. You'd make an interesting addition." He noted. "Perhaps… let's see how long you last."

Suddenly, the walls started moving closer together, spiked dropping down from the ceiling.

My eyes widened behind my helmet. "Oh crap."

I zipped down the hallway, running and running a seemingly endless path. I didn't have much time left, the walls were getting closer, the ceiling getting lower. Run faster.

I ran until I had to start crouching down, not letting the spikes hit the top of my head. I saw the exit up ahead, a door. I had to get to it. The ceiling was so low now I had to crawl as fast as I could, the spikes about a foot above me as I did.

I got there, and laid down on my hip, yanking my foot back, and then smashing it into the door, splintering it, but not making it break.

"Come on!" I growled in frustration, hitting it again, making it fly off the hinges. I scooted myself in, but my helmet got caught between a spike and the floor. As fast as I could, I hit the button on the back of my helmet, pulling my head out as the spike crushed through the metal, shattering it all over the floor as I watched from the little room I had stumbled into. That was nearly my head.

I stood up slowly, looking around this room as well. Black, floor to ceiling it was black, I was starting to feel like the entire house was like this.

"Well, you are lasting long, aren't you? You won't get out of course, but you'll probably last longer than any of the others. Most of them didn't even make it past the hallway."

I stood up a little straighter, growling at his words, "Come out now and I'll end you quickly."

"I think we both know that won't happen."

I snorted, "Okay then, time for back up." I reached up to touch my COM link, but them stopped, sighing. My com link was in my helmet. "Damn it."

He laughed, "Well then, I guess we get to play a little longer."

I heard something click, like a switch, or a button, and the floor started to move. It started moving like a treadmill, and one look behind me to see where it was taking me, I started running like hell.

It was trying to drag me back into a wall of spikes, to impale me. I ran as fast as I could, getting to the opposite wall, and scrambling for a hand hold, there weren't any. I kept running, trying to grab the wall, but there was nothing, not even a bump to brace myself against. I reached to my belt, pulling out an explosive as the treadmill sped up.

I stuck it onto the wall, and then stopped running, crouching down and covering my head. Three… Two… One-

It exploded, chunks of wall flying past my head, scraping my arms. I jumped up, rushing away from the spikes as fast as I could, and jumping through the new hole in the wall. I landed in a roll, springing up, gun at the ready, "Where are you!?"

"Watching, always watching." He said, amusement clear on his tone. "You've made it farther than any other child."

"Where's Alyssa!?" I thundered.

"Alyssa? Oh. You mean my latest little toy. Well, let's just say she didn't make it very far." He explained.

He's going to die. Slowly, painfully, in every way Dad taught me. No. That's to good for him. I will kill him in every way Dunya ever practiced on me.

"You better pray to God that I die before I find you." I growled, "Because once I find you, You won't last any longer than I intend you to."

He just laughed, his voice echoing in my ears. "I think you're forgetting your position."

"No. You just don't understand." I snapped. "You've got this place on lockdown, which means, you can't open any doors or windows, because you know I'll get out. Don't you get it!? You're trapped in here, with me!"

The floor suddenly started to move again, but it wasn't like a treadmill. It was splitting down the middle, opening up to reveal a big pool of green glowing water. Acid.

"Cliché!" I snapped.

I looked up at the ceiling, this one was plaster. No concrete? Guess that mean's he's almost out of tricks. I shot up a grappling hook line, zipping up about two feet from the acid, and then pointed my gun down at the mass of acid. If the ceiling is plaster, I doubt that the floor is concrete. If I shoot enough bullet holes, then the acid will drain.

I fire off a round, then grab the rope with my teeth to keep myself steady, loading another into the gun. I fire it off too, I don't think a grenade will cut it, depending on how fast that acid works.

I curse under my breath as the second round ends, and the acid is probably draining, but clearly not fast enough. I can't keep holding onto this rope much longer. I fumble around on my utility belt, until I pull out a small laser pointer. Only, it's not just a pointer, it's an actual laser. This thing can melt right through three feet of steel.

I pointed it down into the acid, drawing a big circle with it, before clicking it off. There was the sound of metal scraping metal, before the floor crashed in on itself, the acid draining from the ground quite quickly.

I dropped down to the floor, careful not to slip on the still wet floor.

"I have to admit, this is entertaining, but I think it's about time we ended this." Came his voice again, before the vents in the ceiling opened, and smoke started seeping into the room.

"Oh come on, _that _is just _tacky_!" I complained, pulling out my respirator, slipping it on quickly. "And it ain't gonna work."

"True, but how long will that air last?"

"Get bent!"

**AT WAYNE MANOR:**

Jason walked into the library, seeing Jay sitting down with a book titled: Getting Along With Other Kids.

"Jay, where's Justin?"

Jay didn't even look up, "Confronting an evil sociopath, trying to save Kenya's friend Alyssa for getting killed. Why?"

Jason shrugged, "Nothing much, just… wait, what?"

"Justin took off to find the serial killer who kidnapped Alyssa a few hours ago." Jay explained. "Ya know, the Card Man."

"And you didn't go with her, or tell anyone?"

"She wanted to work solo. I mean, it's just one serial killer, and he only goes after kids."

"Justin is a kid."

"… Yeah but, she's Justin. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Jason sighed, "You think she'll be busy all night?"

"Eh, I don't know, I don't know much about Card Man." Jay admitted, "But hey, Justin's more than capable of taking care of herself, I mean, she's not really a kid anymore Jason. She's a young adult, and I think she can handle herself. Especially against just this one guy."

"… What the hell are you smoking?" Jason asked. "She's only sixteen! She' practically a baby!"

Jason turned to run out of the library, and Jay called after him, "Hey, where are ya going?"

"To save my little girl, because she has _terrible _luck!"

Jay waited until Jason was gone to mumbles, "Yeah, more likely your daddy bat's senses are tingling."


	8. Card Man Part 4

That gas mask lasted for half an hour. Thirty whole minutes of zigzagging my way through the Card Man's hideout, dodging spikes, huge boulders rolling my way, and a TON of other booby traps that he totally ripped off of every Indiana Jones movie ever made.

"Is there some kind of evil villain store where all you people get your traps?" I muttered.

"It's all hand made here girl." Came the voice again, "And let me assure you, bases on your efforts, you'll be placed in a trophy case of honor. You have come the farther than all the others after all."

"How are those bodies still all… fleshy?" I asked. "Bodies should start to show bone after just a few weeks. But we're talking about years here."

"Chemical preservatives are very affective."

"Of course." I snapped. I kicked down another door (it was really starting to lose it's edge of fun now) and entered another room, my eyes lighting up behind my domino mask at the far wall. A window!

I sprinted for it, but right before I could grab it, the floor turned to fire. Flames erupted from the ground, spreading all over the floor. I jumped up, grabbing the windows edge, and tried to hoist myself up a few feet. I glanced back down at the ground, and sniffed. "Covered it with gas, huh?"

"It's a relatively simple procedure."

"Uh huh, unfortunately for you, these are plaster walls." I said, "And even you wouldn't risk running a spark through them, not even as a last resort. Which means, you've done it manually."

"Even if that is true, you can't deduce my location-"

I glanced around the room again, and saw a closet door on the other side of the room, "You're behind that door aren't you?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought." I smirked, taking out a small bomb, and throwing it to the far wall, and then burying my face into my shoulder to avoid back lash from the blast as it tore off the wall. As soon as the blast died down, I hopped down to the ground, landing on a large piece of dry wall that had fallen to the floor. Before I could even walk towards the closet, the window behind me smashed, and in tumbled Rango, not even dressed up like Hell Hound.

"Rango?"

He trotted over to me, nuzzling my hand lovingly, whining. "What are you doing here?"

He hopped up on his back legs, giving one loud bark. "Daddy bats mode, huh?"

He gave another soft whine. "Well, sorry, but I've got this one all wrapped up."

A man stumbled out of the closet, coughing and sputtering. He was at least forty, with greasy black hair, and he was over weight. He stood up tall, taking out a large hunting knife. "You little bitch! I'll kill you!"

Rango lunged for him, dashing over the now safe looking floor. But I saw where he was running, over some hair thin cracks in the floor, "Rango, NO!"

The floor beneath Rango gave away, and he fell into a pit, letting out loud yelps and whines. I dashed to the edge, and jumped in after Rango.

The pit was only a few feet deep, but spikes stuck up from the bottom. And one of them had impaled Rango through his stomach. I sank to the ground beside him, "Rango?"

He lifted his head weakly, looking up at me, and letting out another soft whine.

The Card Man laughed from above me, "Pity, you're dog comes to save you, and you wind up being the reason he's dead." He tossed his knife down to me, "Go ahead, make his death quick."

I looked down into Rango's eyes, seeing all the pain and suffering he was going through. I saw the hurt and confusion, and the sorrow behind his eyes. The sorrow that seemed to say, _I'm sorry I didn't obey._ The thought made my choke out a small sob as Rango started bleeding more. I wrapped my hand around the knife. I had to end his suffering.

He stared at me as I put the knife to his throat, but he didn't protest. "I… I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what else to do."

He let out a soft growl, and I clenched my teeth shut, staring at the spike that had driven through my dog. I bit my tongue, and carefully felt around where the spike jutted through. Rango let out soft whimpers of pain at my prodding fingers, but despite that, I felt relief surge through me. The impalement hadn't struck any internal organs!

I took the knife away from Rango's throat, and stuck it into his side, trying to cut the flesh around the spike. He closed his eyes, letting out painful howls, until I stopped cutting, pulling the spike out of his stomach.

The Card Man laughed, "Nice idea, but neither you or your dog are getting out alive."

I looked over my shoulder to see him holding up a gun, aiming it at my head. Before I could pull the trigger, I threw the knife at his hand, knocking the gun out of it. As it clattered to the floor, I sprung up out of the hole, and punched Card Man in the face.

He stumbled back, grabbing his nose. My eyes dropped to the floor, seeing hair like cracks in the floor behind him. My eyes met his, fear meeting rage. I pulled my leg up, round house kicking his shin, and then heel kicking him in his fat folded stomach.

He fell back, hitting the ground and it cracked under his weight. He screamed as he fell down that hole, but the screams didn't last long. I walked to the edge, peering over the side to see several spikes jutting through his body.

I spit into the hole, and then sneered down at him. "No one hurts my dog."

Rango let out a soft whine, and I turned back, jumping back down into his hole, taking a quick look at him. The bleeding had slowed, but it was still coming. I reach up behind his ear, petting his dark blue fur gently. "Shh, it's okay boy, I promise."

I scrambled around for any type of communicator on me, but couldn't find one. So I activated my distress tracker, and waited for Oracle to send someone after me.

He let out another soft whimper, and I put my hand over his wound, pressing down firmly. He yelped loudly. "I'm sorry, I know it hurts, but I have to keep the pressure on."

He seemed to understand me, and he tried to settle down, his breathing ragged.

"Goddamn it, someone help!" I screamed loudly. "Hero down! Hero down!"

His blood started to seep through my fingers, and I pulled it away, taking out my own knife quickly, and a small lighter. I lit it, putting my knife over the flame, letting it heat the metal. "Just hold on Hell Hound."

He let out another whimper, and I felt a tear slide out of my eye, falling under the lenses of my domino mask. "Hey, don't get sad Rango. You remember last Saturday, when me and you went to the library so I could work on my essay, but then you destroyed the books I got, and I spent three hours chasing you around the park because you stole my wallet? That was fun wasn't it? Well guess what, after we get out of here, we'll go do that again. But this time, I'll buy you a chilidog from that guy on the corner of Elms St. I promise."

He moved his head, placing it on my knee like pillow, he just wanted to be close to me. He was scared, and in pain. I took the knife away from the flame, and then pressed the two sides of the open wound together with my fingers, "Alright, this is gonna hurt buddy."

I pressed the heated blade to his skin, the heat making the skin burn back together, stopping the bleeding. The noises Rango let out, whimpering, whining, practically screaming his head off.

"I'm sorry!" I sobbed.

"Justin?"

I looked up over my shoulder to see Dad standing on the edge of the hole, his helmet gone, but domino mask in place. "What the hell is going on!? I just had to work my way through a Joker style fun house, and-"

He stopped, looking down at Rango, "Oh. Come on, hand him up, quick!"

I gathered Rango in my arms, handing him up to dad. Dad took him, laying him down on the floor gently, and then helped me up out of the pit.

Dad's hand flew to his com link, "Oracle, we've got a hero down. I repeat, hero down."

**BACK AT THE BAT CAVE:**

Alfred finally looked up from Rango's body, "Miss Justine, you did everything you could for the poor hound."

I let my head fall into my hands, wiping away a few tears, "I… I never should have gone in there without back up!"

Dad put a hand on my shoulder, "Justin, you couldn't have known he would be that hard to take down. You thought he was just a kidnapper."

"Yeah but…" I trailed off.

Alfred spoke up again, "He's not dead."

My head jerked up, "What!?"

"He's not dead, but he is unconscious, and in a lot of pain. I'd try to medicate him but… I have no idea how to tend to a dog." Alfred took of his gloves, "However, I do believe the only reason he's still breathing is because of your quick thinking to seal his wound with the hot metal."

I slouched in my chair, "That still doesn't change the fact that I almost got my dog killed, and Alyssa-"

"What happened to Alyssa?" I looked over my shoulder to see Kenya standing there, eyes wide with worry. I swallowed twice, trying to get the nerve to speak.

"K-Kenya?" I mumbled.

Mom stood up from the seat next to me, scooping Kenya into her arms, "Don't worry baby. Do you remember the stories Justin told you from her book?"

Kenya nodded, "Cain and Able? The big flood with Noah?"

"Do you remember the one about Jesus?"

Kenya paused, "You mean the one who got nailed to a cross, and died, but then came back to life, like daddy?"

Dad chuckled slightly, "Trust me baby, your daddy doesn't have _anything _on Jesus Christ."

I raised an eyebrow, I had never heard my parents talk about God before, I just figured they were atheist, which is why I tried not to talk to them about all the questions I had.

Mommy nodded, "Yes well, you're friend Alyssa, she's with him right now, okay?"

Kenya nodded, "Okay Mommy… do you think that he knows her favorite cookies, or ice cream? Is she going to be okay up there with him Mommy?"

Mom smiled, nodding. "Yes baby, Alyssa will be fine up there. I promise, she will. Jesus knows everything about her, and He'll take good care of her."

Kenya looked at Dad, "Is that true Daddy?"

Dad smiled, kissing her forehead gently, "Word for word ya adorable little munchkin."

Mom and Dad took Kenya away, probably to watch some Disney movie so she wouldn't feel bad.

I waited until Alfred left too, and I stood up from my chair, walking over to the cot Rango was sleeping on. I ran a hand over Rango's fur, the dark blue curls sliding between my finger tips softly. "I'm so sorry boy."

A new voice made me clench my fist, "Justin?"

I looked over my shoulder, glaring at Jay. "What do you want?"

Jay's look was filled with sympathy, something I'd like to shoot off of him. "Justin... I'm sorry. From what people knew about the guy, it should have been a walk in the park. There was nothing that I could-"

"Shut up!" I snapped, "I'm not looking for your pity, or your regret. All I know is I made a bad call, and now Alyssa is dead! I don't blame Alyssa or Rango on you Jay, I just want you out of my damn life! The minute you got here, everything's gone wrong, I wanna know what your game is!" I pulled out my gun, putting the barrel to his forehead, "And I wanna know now!"

He frowned, "Justin, I'm not trying to play any of you, I just… I honestly thought you would like the challenge. You've never gotten a chance to do detective work, I just wanted to see how you'd do-"

"So you could catalog it and sell it so Two Face? Penguin?" I spat, "Joker?"

Jay growled, knocking the gun away from his head and shoving me up against the cave wall, "I would never sell you out to that clown faces bastard."

"What do you care?" I snapped.

"That clown beat you and Jason with a crowbar." Jay mumbled, stepping away from me. If he cared about my dad half as much as I did, then I could believe that reason, but I could also see something lying underneath his reasoning.

"And?"

Jay sighed, sinking down into the chair I had been sitting in, "The League pulled me into service because they wanted a Jason Todd they could control, since you didn't turn out so great. I think we both know the process to become your father involves the clown, a crowbar, and death that doesn't last."

I frowned, "What are you saying?"

"The shadows paid Joker to beat me to death with a crowbar, and then they brought me back with the Lazarus Pit." Jay said bluntly.

I put my gun back into it's holster, "Dear God, how much more unoriginal can my life get?"

Jay glared at me, "Love you too kid."

My phone suddenly lit up, and I answered it quickly, "Hood."

Mary's voice came over the other end, "Justin, I need you at the church, now."

"I'll be right there." I mumbled, hanging up. I ran my hand over Rango's fur one last time, before hoping onto my motorcycle, and riding away.

**AT THE CHURCH:**

I walked down the hallways with Mary, dully noting the portraits of famous Bible moments strung up on the walls, "This better be good Virgin Mother."

Mary glared at me, "Yeah, Kyler called, said you were looking into your little sister's best friend's kidnapping, Alyssa, right?"

"Yeah." I mumbled, not wanting to go through it with her.

"Good." Mary said, coming to stop outside a door, "Cause we found her."

"What!?" I asked, shocked. Mary opened the door, gesturing for me to go in. I walked into the room, fully prepared to see Alyssa's skinned body.

But instead, she was sitting on the front pew, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and a sandwich in her tiny little hands. I sputtered, "Wha-what, how did you guys, where did you find her!?"

Mary shrugged, "She just showed up on our door step, there was blood all in her hair, and a few cuts, but other than that, she was fine. She just kept mumbling something about black and red walls."

My mouth fell open, and Mary raised an eyebrow, "Hey, you alright Hood?"

"He knew I would just assume her dead and not look for her." I mumbled, "He played me."

"What?"

I shook my head, "Just, nothing. Nothing Mary."

Mary nodded, "Yeah, well I've already spoken to the police about her case, and they had a doctor X-ray her. She's got a lot of bone fractures, common child abuse injuries. A few of her neighbors came forward an admitted to witnessing child abuse."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had always known Alyssa's parents weren't good ones, but I didn't know they were this bad. She wasn't shy, she wasn't constantly frightened, so I had just assumed because she didn't fit the abuse victim profile, she was alright. "So what happens to her now?"

Mary shrugged, "The church will take her in for as long as she wants. If she get's to a point where she wants a normal life, a family, then we'll find her one. If she wants to stay with us and train as a nun, or a fighter like me, then we'll work with her until she is one."

I nodded slowly, "Uh, can I… talk to her, alone?"

Mary turned around to leave, "Sure. Be gentle with her though."

I walked over to where Alyssa was sitting, "Hey."

She pointed up at one of the hanging paintings, Jesus, on his cross, the sun rising behind him, and angels on either side of him, "I know that man."

I raised an eyebrow, "You do?"

"Yes." Alyssa said, "I don't know his name, or why he's on that cross, but I know he got off."

I froze, Alyssa had never been around when I read the New Testament to Kenya. "How do you know him?"

"He helped me get out of the black and red room." Alyssa explained. "He showed me the box under the rust vent. He broke the grate, and lifted me up into it. When I got out of the red and black room, he was waiting for me outside. He showed me how to get to this church."

I swallowed, "Alyssa, have you ever been to a church before?"

She shook her head, "No, Daddy would always walk funny on the weekend, and Mommy said she was something called an atheist." Alyssa finally looked away from the painting, at my face, "Justin, do you know him?"

I stared at her a moment, before I finally found my ability to speak again, "Yes. But we don't get along that well."

She frowned, as if she didn't believe me. I probably didn't even believe myself.


	9. Four Way Week End

Jay peeked into the living room, seeing Justin, stretched out on the couch with a huge bag of chocolate, candy canes, candy bars, cotton candy, chocolate oranges, and chocolate covered potato chips. "What the hell are you eating?"

Justin shoved a slice of the chocolate orange into her mouth, "I don't know, all I know is that I'm hungry, _all the time_!"

Jay rolled his eyes, "Someone's hitting a growth spurt."

Justin shrugged, "Guess so."

Jay reached over to take a chocolate covered potato chip, but Justin smacked his hand away, "No! Down, dumb dog!"

Jay glared at her, "Did you just refer to me as you do Rango?"

"No, I call Rango by his name. Cause he's an awesome dog. He's _blue _for crying out loud, and he loves bacon even more than me. If you were a dog, I'd just call you dumb dog all the time. That's how little you'd interest me as a canine."

Jay shook his head, "Kid, you are so lucky that you're my best friend's daughter, or else you wouldn't have lived to see Christmas."

"Go lay down, ya dumb dog." Justin said, waving Jay to leave her alone.

"What the hell are you watching?" Jay asked, finally noticing the show she had her eyes on.

A pretty blonde woman smiled at the camera, dressed in work out gear. "_Alright ladies, me and Jennifer are gonna show you all how to do a proper squat thrust, ready? One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, and one, two, three, four!_"

"I'm working out, leave me alone." Justin snapped, shoving a big piece of cotton candy into her mouth.

"I was gonna go beat the crap out of some sex slave dealers, wanna come?" Jay asked.

Justin raised an eyebrow, "You finally decided to pick up a mask and cape? After two months of Dad trying to convince you, just like that?"

Jay nodded, "Wanna see it?"

"You could run around in the original Robin costume and call yourself Bo Peep for all I care." Justin mumbled, shoving more candy into her mouth.

"If you keep eating all that junk, your body is going to quit on you."

"Go suck on a lemon Jay."

"Love you too kid."

Justin kept watching the show for awhile, until her phone rang, and she picked it up quickly, "Catty's Pizzeria, today's special, get one extra large pizza, get the other one half off. Free toppings include lizard gizzard, bear scat, or cat hairballs."

There was a slight pause. "I'm assuming this is Justin Todd?"

Justin hesitated, trying to recognize the voice, "Wait a minute, is this Mr. Britt, my school councilor?"

There was a heavy sigh, "Yes, unfortunately."

I chuckled, "What, did the paint never come out of your hair?"

"Justin, I'm only talking to you, because your grades are straight D's, you are involved in no extra curricular activities, and frankly, you don't contribute to school at all."

If you only knew about my 'extra curricular' Mr. Britt.

"We're considering expelling you from school, but considering your grandfather's social standing, it will do more harm for us than good." Mr. Britt continued. "So, we've looked over extra courses you could take up, and I've made a short list for you. Band?"

"No."

"Home Economics?"

"Hell no."

"Advanced Art?"

"It's like you don't know me at all! You're the guidance councilor, isn't that your job!?"

"How about a course in a foreign language? Russian maybe?"

I rolled my eyes, "Так как вы не можете понять меня, ты осел."

There was a long pause. "French then?"

I snorted, "Tais-toi déjà, cochon américain."

"I have no idea what you're saying, but that sounds French." He sighed, "Alright, there's only one left, the elementary school water polo team needs a new coach."

"Put me down for that one then." I ordered, hanging up.

I finished up my chocolate covered potato chips, then paused, "What the heck is _water polo_?"

**WITH CONAN:**

I turned on Ma Kent's old TV to the basketball play offs, settling down with a bowl of popcorn and three sodas. I sighed in happiness, "This is what I call a weekend off."

The picture suddenly disappeared, the TV going blank.

I paused, staring at the screen, before grabbing my phone to call customer service. I held for twenty minutes, listening to elevator music, before someone finally answered.

It was a man who talked like someone who had been working at McDonalds for thirty-five years. Seen it all, done it, now can you just leave me alone? Type of voice.

"Hello, this is John with Direct TV, how can I provide you with excellent service?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to watch the play offs here-"

"Ah yes, the playoffs, wish I could be at home watching that myself."

"Sorry to hear that, but my cable just went out over here, and I need to get it fixed to at least catch the last half of the game." I explained. "So can you turn my cable back on?"

He gave a fake laugh, "Sir, do think I can just press a button and turn your cable back on?"

"Number one, I'm a woman. Number two, yes! It's called a mouse and keyboard!" I snapped.

"Well sorry there toots, but there's this thing called paperwork I have to check to make sure I'm not giving out free cable." He said, "Now, I can send a van over to your house to check all your technical issues tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!? I'm missing the game, as we speak!" I complained.

"It's the best I can do girly." He snapped back.

"Ugh! Fine."

"Keep in mind, someone is going to have to be at the house when the workers arrive, somewhere between six AM and eight PM."

"But that's _all day_!"

"Thank you for using customer service to fix your problems. Did I provide you with excellent service today?"

I groaned, "Yes, thank you."

**WITH KYLER AND SNOW:**

Kyler walked into DR, immediately smelling something good coming form the kitchen. Having learned from an early age that first come get first dibs, she rushed into the kitchen, seeing snow pull out cupcakes from the oven, and place them on the counter with a bunch of pies, cakes, cubed cheese, olives, a big ham, and a bunch of sorted snacks that looked as if Snow had made them by hand.

"Oh wow, Snow did you make all of this!?" Kyler asked.

Snow nodded proudly, "Yes, I decided to test my culinary skills. Raphael won't eat any of them."

Kyler raised an eyebrow, picking up a chicken wrap, "Why?"

She took a bite out of it before Snow answered, "Something about them all being bland? I don't know."

Kyler choked, the awful taste filling her mouth, "Wow, that's awful!"

Snow sighed, "So I guess my cooking hasn't improved at all."

Kyler smiled, "Snow, if practically raising my younger siblings has taught me one thing, it's my way around the spice rack. Let me show you a few things."

**LATER THE NEXT DAY, WITH JUSTIN:**

I walked into the school pool area, seeing four little kids, two girls and two boys, swimming around. After noticing my presence, they all scrambled out of the pool, and the oldest one, a boy with shaggy blonde surfer hair smiled up at me, "Are you our new polo instructor, Mrs. Todd?"

I rolled my eyes, "That's Dr. Todd to you kids."

"Oh, okay Dr. Todd." He answered.

One of the girls, an Asian with big glasses, looked up at me, glaring, "Where'd you get your degree?"

"Russia." I said dryly, "Alright, now what exactly am I getting paid? Mr. Britt wasn't to clear about that."

The Asian girl rolled her eyes, "You don't get paid for this, you get two high school credits, one for physical activeness, and the other for social awareness."

The other boy, a die hard ginger, smiled through his braces, "Yeah, and you get to have lots of fun!"

I shook my head, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Kid, if I'm your coach, you're not going to have fun. You're going to have discipline, grueling training, and wins."

The last kid, a really small girl with brown hair tied in pig tails looked up at me, eyes wide, "Huh?"

I rolled my eyes again, "Alright, we'll have a little fun."

She clapped her hands together, "Yay! Dr. Todd, we're gonna have fun!"

I chuckled, "That's Coach to you kids."

**WITH CONAN:**

I whimpered, staring at the six soda's displayed on the coffee table, "_WHY ON EARTH DID I HAVE SO MUCH TO DRINK_!?"

I dashed upstairs to the bathroom, not being able to help the happy little sigh as my bladder was relieved. I wasn't so happy when the doorbell rang. "Oh come on!" I complained, finishing up and dashing out of the bathroom, trying to pull my pants up from my ankles.

I finally made it to the door, yanking it open, to see no one around, "I was gone for five minutes! Really!?"

I looked at the doorknob, seeing that they had left a door hanger there, reading _Sorry We Missed You!_

I glared at it, "Oh, you will be."

I grabbed my phone, heading back inside, "You will be."

"Hello, this is John Direct TV, how can I provide you with excellent service?"

The same guy!? "Turn my cable back on so I can watch the play offs! I don't wanna miss another game."

"Oh, it's you again Ma'am. The Van should have gotten-"

"I waited all morning for that van, I went to the bathroom for five minutes, and then it finally decides to show up, and leave, in like, five _seconds_!"

"Well, you have to be able to wait all day kid."

"No one can stop going to the bathroom, all day!"

"Well, I can send another van back out tomorrow-"

"Just turn my cable back on!"

"Fine, here."

The TV clicked to life, people speaking Spanish in some really bad Latino soap opera. "Hey, it's back on!"

"Good for you kid. Anything else I can help you with?"

I tried to change the channel to the playoffs, but no matter what I did, the Latino Channel was all that would show up, "What the hell, dude, I have one channel!"

"That's the bronze package."

"What package lets me watch the playoffs!?"

"That would be the gold package."

"Then give me the gold package."

"Just a moment ma'am." I sank down on the couch as he hummed. "So how's your day going?"

"_Horrible_."

"So sorry to hear that."

"_Please _just turn my cable back on!"

Dad walked into the living room, settling down on the couch next to me, "Are you watching Tears Of Tomorrow? This is garbage!"

The woman on the screen turned back to the doctor rattling something off in Spanish that was translated at the bottom of the screen as _I refuse to have an abortion ,if this child's chance of survival costs my life, then so be it. I'm going to fight my breast cancer, and have my baby!_

The Doctor looked shocked, _But Rosalina, you have your ailing mother to think of!_

Dad paused, "Maybe I'll just watch a little bit."

The cable guy finally answered again, "I'm sorry, the gold package is not available at this time."

"For the love of-"

"Thank you for using customer service to fix your problems. Did I provide you with excellent service today?"

I paused, "I hope you realize, this means war."

"… Have a good day ma'am."

**WITH JUSTIN:**

I looked over the kids, "Alright, let's go over what we've got on this team kiddies, one boy, two girls, and one ginger. No obvious athletes. None of you are attractive." I looked at the Asian girl, "What's your name?"

"Emily."

"Emily!?" I reeled, "I'm never gonna remember that. What about you blondie?"

He looked up at me, "Austin."

"Ugh, none of you have good names for remembering. Here's the deal, Emily, you're new name is Glasses. Austin, you're Blondie. Boy with the orange hair, you're name is now Ginger. Last but not least, you midget, are now Pigtails." They all stared at me like I was crazy.

"Next subject of business, last night I looked up what water polo is, and honestly it sounds even more gay than cricket. So I'm just going to use football plays I've learned over the years. I highly recommend you all switch from water polo to football. You can actually get a scholarship off of that. And people won't think you're automatically gay like they do when you tell them you're playing water polo."

Not even a chuckle out of these kids, really?

"And now that you're in training, there will be no cupcakes, pie, cake, candy, or fatty foods. I'm talking lean meats, steamed vegetables, and protein shakes. Drink a lot of water throughout the day, and if you can run instead of walking, then run. Now jump in that pool, let's see what you've got!"

They all rushed to the pool, immediately swimming laps around while I climbed into the life guard stand to watch.

They were all fast, I'll give them that, but there was no form to their swimming. "Come on guys, make a pattern with your strokes, one two, one two, one two, one two!"

**THE NEXT DAY, WITH JUSTIN, SUNDAY:**

I stepped up in front of the kids, "Men, this is your first game. You're probably scared, you feel like you're gonna lose, maybe even get humiliated out there today. Well I know exactly how you feel."

Glasses looked up at me, not buying it, "Really?"

I nodded, leaning against the lockers, "Yeah, really. You see, years ago, I was a small time boxer, living in a tiny apartment in Philadelphia."

They all looked up at me, shocked. Ginger spoke first, "You were."

"Yep." I am the best liar in the world. "And one day, out of the blue, the heavyweight champion of the world gave me a shot at the title, and the belt!" They were transfixed, as they should be. Kids loved a good story. "He knew I didn't stand a chance, but he liked my nickname. The Italian Stallion."

Glasses frowned, "Wait a minute, you're a girl. They don't allow co-ed boxing in championship fights!"

"Well… they let me do it for two reasons, one, my grandfather waved a bunch of money in their faces, and two, they were terrified of me." I explained. "Back to the story, Along the way, I met a very shy boy named Adrian at a pet store, and we fell in love. His sister Pauline got me a job at her meatpacking plant, where I would beat on the carcasses hanging in the freezer."

I set down in on the bench opposite of them, Pigtails smiled at me, urging me to continue. "For nutrition, I ate raw eggs, and for speed, my trainer would make me chase chickens. Now I know what you're all wondering."

I stood up, putting my arms behind my back, and walking over to the mirror on the wall, locking eyes with my reflection, "Did I defeat the heavy weight champion of the world?"

They all stared at me through the mirror, waiting for me to answer. I let out a tired sigh, "No." I looked at them over my shoulder, "But I _went the distance_. And you know what that proved?" I fell into a tight boxing stance, punching the air in front of me a few times, "That I wasn't just another _bum _from the _neighborhood_!"

I let that sink in, until Glasses piped up, "Wasn't that a movie?"

I looked at her, "Ya know what? I think they _did _make it into a movie. That's how inspiring my story was." I scooped up my playbook, "Remind me to tell you about the time I met the four oddest ten year olds, ever! One was really fat, another was a ginger Jew, then there was that boy in the red poof ball hat, and that really poor kid with the orange parka. You could never understand a _word _that boy said!"

I pointed my playbook at them, "But right now, we've got a game to win! So get out there bobcats, and win that game!

**TWO HOURS LATER:**

Pigtails sighed as she plopped down on the locker room bench, "Sorry we lost coach."

Blondie nodded, "Yeah, we tried."

Ginger smiled, "And we had lots of fun while doing it!"

I shrugged, "I was upset at first, but to tell you the truth, the minute I saw how much fun all you kids were having out there, I learned a real important lesson about this game. It's not about winning, losing, or having fun. It's about the clear as day fact that water polo sucks. I mean outside of those dummies who were watching the game, who were all your parents anyways, no one really cares about this sport!"

They giggled, and I continued, "It would be one thing is this was football, or basketball, or even baseball, but it's _not_! It's only _water polo_! So go home with your heads held high kids, cause _no one _cares if you win at water polo!"

They all cheered, running out of the locker room to go home.

**WITH CONAN:**

Conan watched from the rooftops as John exited the cable company doors. She smirked to herself, "This is going to be so much fun."

Conan used her super speed to run down the side of the building, rushing into the coffee shop John was heading into, and behind the counter, changing into the employee uniform. She grinned at John, "Hello sir, how can I provide you with excellent service today?"

John smiled back, "I'd like a cappuccino please."

"Okay." Conan said, not moving.

John raised an eyebrow, "Um, I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Oh, alright then." Conan turned around, pretending to fiddle with the machine. "So how's your day going?"

"Uh, fine." He mumbled.

Conan turned around, "Oh, sorry! The machine isn't working right now. If you want, I can upgrade you to a regular coffee."

John shrugged, "I don't see how that's an upgrade, but okay."

Conan turned back around for a moment, "So, you watching the playoffs?"

John snorted, "If only I had the time. But look, I _really _am in a hurry."

Conan turned around again, smiling, holding up the empty coffee pot, "Sorry, out of coffee. If you want, you can come back tomorrow. We should have some more between 6 AM and 8 PM."

John paused, "But, that's all day!"

Conan shrugged, "Sorry. Have I given you excellent service today sir?"

John checked his watch, "Ugh, forget it!"

He ran out of the shop, and Conan smirked, shedding the uniform and running past him into the company elevator. She pulled out a professional looking jacket, and floated a few inches about the ground, hoping to look taller. John entered the elevator, and stared at her a moment, before shrugging, reaching out to press a button, but Conan stopped him.

She put on a fake Brooklyn accent, "Uh, soiree dere sir, can't let ya touch dem buttons dere. Aye's da new elevator boy, Aye's sure am. Boss man got complaints 'bout people takin' permanent markers to da buttons."

John shrugged, "Alright then, floor 24 please."

Conan nodded, "Yes sir, now what package ya be wantin?"

"Uh, package?"

Conan nodded, "Yeah, dere's da gold package, that'll take ya right to da 24th floor, but dat one ain't available right now. Den dere's da silver package, it'll take ya to the 22nd floor, but you have to come back down to the 15th floor, then the 9th floor. Then Aye's can let ya off. Den da bronze package, dat one takes ya up two floors, then down one, till we gets ta da 24th floor. So dat one takes awhile."

"Oh, just forget it!" John snapped, running out of the elevator and up the stairs.

Conan shed the jacket, and flew up to the 24th floor window, looking in as John finally made it to the top. His office manager bust in, glaring at John. "John! This is the sixth time in two weeks you've been late! That's it buddy, you're fired! Clean out your office, and get outta my building!"

Conan chuckled darkly as John sat there stunned, before pulling out her phone.

John nearly jumped when his desk phone rang. He sighed answering it, "I'm sorry, I'm going to have to connect you to a different representative."

"Oh no John." Conan chuckled, "I want to talk to you. I just have one last question for you, did I provide you with excellent service today?"

John dropped his office phone, to stunned to respond. Conan flew home, before settling down on the couch with her dad, watching the new Latino soap opera he was now hooked on.

The woman looked up at the doctor from her hospital bed, _I'm glad it's all finally over! Can I see my baby boy now?_

The doctor sighed, _I'm sorry, but your son passed two hours ago._

The woman gasped, covering her face, and crying.

Conan stared at the screen, "Wait a minute, her baby died?"

Connor shook his head, "No! The baby's father stole him from the hospital, and bribed the doctor not to tell. The father runs nearly half the gangs in Porto Rico, and he wants his son to take after him. The whole reason that the mother ran away was because she wanted her son out of the crime world."

Conan paused, "Is the show over?"

Connor shook his head, "Oh no, there's a marathon going on this weekend, ya doing anything?"

Conan shrugged, "Eh, I'll watch the playoffs next year. Pass me a soda."

**What is this? I don't even know!**

**No wait, I do. This is what happens when I drink seven cans of 7 up, then watch LooneyToons. It's call CRACK ladies and gentlemen, and it's one hell of a drug.**


	10. Youth Of The Nation

"I hate you Jay." Justin spat.

"Love you too kid." Jay replied.

"I hate you Jay."

"Love you too kid."

"I want you to go to Hell Jay."

"Love you too kid."

"Scum like you shouldn't be allowed to breath Jay."

"Love you too kid."

"You belong in the seventh circle of Hell Jay."

"Gingers don't have souls, so you're the one going to the seventh layer of Hell."

Justin shook her head, "I'm not a ginger, my hair is dark red, _not _orange."

"I know about your tattoo."

"What!?" Justin whirled around in her seat, facing Jay as he drove her and Damian to school.

"I trailed you last month, saw you go into the tattoo shop. If your mom ever finds out… your ass is grounded kid."

Justin groaned, covering her face. Damian finally piped up, "You have a tattoo?"

Justin glared at Damian, "You tell no one, or everyone finds out about what Uncle Dick got you for Christmas. I _know _you kept it."

Damian glared right back at her, "Very well."

Jay shook his head, laughing, "How do you get all your blackmail kid? Scratch that, I already know, just tell me how much you have!"

"At least five on _everybody_." Justin explained, "And I still hate you."

Jay pulled into their school, "All because I refused to let you play hooky?"

"I don't wanna sit around and do math!"

"You've still gotta coach that water polo team of yours." Jay reminded, "Besides, I've got things to do today, and none of them include you."

"Ya mean like selling info on us?"

"Will you ever let that go?" Jay sighed.

"People who mess with my family, then try to kill me don't last long Jay." Justin said in a low voice, "Bruce can take his rules and shove them up his ass, I'll kill you if you set one more toe out of line."

"I keep telling you, I didn't know about Card Man Justin." Jay snapped, stopping the car so they could get out. "If I had know about his little fun house, I never would have suggested the case to you."

"I don't believe you." Justin snapped.

"Aw come on Justin, it's Christmas!"

"It's January."

Jay groaned, "Look, I've apologized for it constantly-"

"We don't take apologies." Damian chimed in, "We take facts, and results. The fact is, it really seems like you tried to get Justin killed, and you're not even at arms length anymore, you're about an arms length and two miles."

Jay shook his head, "Whatever, I'll make it up to you Justin. I promise."

"Get bent." Justin ordered, getting out of the car, Damian following her. They glared at Jay as he drove away. Justin turned to Damian, "He has _got _to go."

Damian crossed his arms, "Tt, agreed."

Justin turned to Damian, "Alright, when I drive someone away I like to use a mixture of cruel pranks, blackmail, and a punk ass attitude."

"When I want to drive someone away, I isolate them through degradation and humiliation." Damian said, "I suggest we try your way, he seems like someone who doesn't care about being taunted by those of higher authority."

Justin smiled, "Little D, we are gonna pull a wedding dress on him."

"Like Tim?"

"Exactly like Tim."

They parted ways, and Justin walked to math class, singing softly, "I'm happy, I'm feeling glad. I got sunshine, in a bag. I'm useless, but not for long. The future, is comin on. The future, is comin on." _(Clint Eastwood, by Gorillaz, I highly recommend checking the song out. Very cool.)_

Jay drove out to the airport, trying to avoid traffic cameras. He got out, pulling a pink duffel bag with him. He walked inside, waiting until a small, private plane landed, and the few passengers on board got off. Jay put a com. link in his ear, turning it on, "Ann, can you hear me?"

"Yes." Came the soft reply.

"Good, I'm setting your bag down, you now what to do from here." Jay set the pink duffel bag down, and walked to the food court, getting two phili-cheese-steak subs to go.

"Pink, really?" Asked the young girl, as she scooped up the bag, walking into the women's rest room, heading into the big stall.

"All I could find on such short notice." Jay explained.

Ann Set the duffel bag on the baby changing station, rooting through it. She peeled off his old, dirty, sweaty clothed, throwing them in the trash bin. She took out the small hand towel, using it to wipe off all the dirt and grim from her body. She threw the towel in the trash as well, then pulled out the dark blue underwear with black lacey, "Does someone think that this is going to get him laid tonight?"

Jay allowed himself a small chuckle, "A man can dream."

"If this goes a smoothly as you say it will, we'll see about that." Anna said, pulling on the white dress pants and then the short blue dress, "Blue? Now we're talking."

"That's partly why I didn't go with the pink lace from Victoria Secret."

"Good boy." Anna laughed, slipping into the black flats, and then yanking a brush through her long red hair. "Now to just get out of here."

"Walking out into the parking lot in ten minutes." Jay instructed, walking to his car. "I'll be waiting in the bright red Volvo."

"You got it babe." Ann waited until five minutes were past, before asking, "Do you think they'll like me?"

Jay laughed, "They'd be crazy not to."

"You said they were all crazy."

"Not that crazy, I'm sure some of them will be very welcoming."

Ann opened the passenger door, slipping in beside Jay, "Well, regardless if the demon children kill me or not, I'm very thankful."

Jay grabbed her shoulder, pulling her into a long kiss, before finally pulling away, "What are the chances of just parking this car on the side of the road, and hopping into the back seat?"

"Yeah, not gonna happen."

Jay groaned, starting the car and driving away from the air port, "Damn it!"

When Justin got home with Damian in tow, she saw her parents, sitting down across from Ann and Jay, looking _very _uncomfortable. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her skull when she saw Ann's face, she looked _just _like her mother. "Who the _hell _is she?"

Kim frowned at Justin, before sighing, "Uh, Justin, this is Ann. She uh… my clone."

Justin stared at Ann, "How, when, why… ya know what, I don't wanna know."

She walked away, but Damian plopped down on the sofa next to Kim, "I want to know."

Jay sighed, "Alright, here's the basic version, you know I was trained by my father right? Well, my father wasn't really part of the league of assassins. He had a higher calling. He was a member of the Court of Owls."

Justin came back in, plopping down on the couch next to Damian, holding a bowl of salt and vinegar potato chips, "Never mind, I wanna hear this."

"Well, you both know they wanted a Jason Todd for themselves, and they paid the Joker to turn me into one, through the usual initiation."

Justin crunched down on a handful of chips, "And that's where my back story looses its originality."

"So, I died for seven minute, then they brought me back with the Lazarus Pit."

And that's where my story is better!" Justin insisted, "I didn't get magic water, I had to work through rehab!"

"This is not a contest Justin." Jason said sternly.

"So after they get me to be a mini Jason, they decide they want a mini Blue Jay to help with the task they assigned me, killing the bat-family."

"I knew it!" Justin cried, pointing a greasing finger at him, "You lying bastard!"

"Can I just get through two sentences without you interrupting me?" Jay asked, "I mean, come on kid, it's about to get good."

Justin nodded, "Continue, but just know, afterwards, I'm killing you to protect my family."

Jay shrugged, "You can try, now here's the thing, they put her under my protection. I was supposed to train her, and I did. But it took about two years and… one thing lead to another-"

"You hooked up!" Justin accused.

Ann blushed, and Jay glared at Justin, "Uh, yeah. We 'hooked up' and then because I knew I had to get her out before the league caught wind of it, I had her smuggled out of Russia. After I got out, I made arrangements for her to be brought to America."

"You hooked up with my mom's clone!" Justin shouted.

Damian groaned, rubbing his eyes, "Todd, how do you put up with your life?"

"Are you kidding!?" Justin snapped, "If they turn out to be brother and sister, this'll be better than that Latino soap opera Conan got me hooked on."

Damian shook his head, "Todd, you are to easily amused."

Justin gasped, "Hey, I'm missing the new episode!"

She grabbed the remote, diving in front of the TV, turning it on. The lead woman, the mother glared at the doctor. _If there's something you're not telling me, I want to hear it now, from you! If I find out later, I will come back here, and ring your throat with my bare hands!_

"Wow, this just reached a new level of_ awesome_." Justin said.

The doctor sighed, _Your son is not dead, he was taken by his father. I wanted to tell him no, that he couldn't take him! But he threatened my daughter, I can't risk her!_

The woman nodded, _I understand, and I do not hold it against you. I have to leave now._

The doctor looked at her warily, _where are you going Rosalyn?_

_I am going top save my child, and kick Ricardo's arse!_

"Power to you!" Justin shouted.

"How can you watch this garbage!?" Damian snapped.

Justin looked over her shoulder at him, "No, you've got eh wrong idea, last episode, it was revealed that Rosalyn is actually a retired spy! Girl's got _mad _skill! She'll walk right into that gang trap, kick ass, and take names! She's an inspiration to all women!"

Ann looked at Jay, "She's the craziest one?"

Jay nodded, "Yeah, pretty much. Just wait, tomorrow she'll make hating you her life's goal."

Jason laughed, standing up and looking at Ann, "Well, I'll tell Alfred to get another room ready, in the mean time, welcome to the family!"

A knife flew through the air, embedding itself in the wall next to Ann's head. Everyone snapped their heads to glare at Justin, Kim walked over to her, "Justine Todd!"

"My hand slipped!" Justin protested, "Love you mom, gotta go, bye!"

**AT DR, WITH JUSTIN:**

I set myself up in front of the punching bag. I took a deep breath, wrapped my hands up, and put my headphones in. 3OH!3 basted through them as I started wailing on the bag.

_We can do an album, or we can do it viral_

_Spread it like an STD you got back in high school_

_I could run for president, or just run the block_

_I could be a stoner or, shit I forgot._

I started punching and bouncing to the beat, lining my punches up with the rhythm of the song.

_I could be an athlete, I could be a New York cabbie_

_I could be your boyfriend in the back seat_

_Pass me a beer or a bottle of gin,_

_And shit, I could be your best friend._

I mumbled along with the song, working the bag as it shuddered.

"_I ain't gonna take no shit from no one_

_I ain't gonna take no lip from no one_

_You ain't gonna try to get me to hold on_

_It's over now, why would I slow down?_

"_I can do anything, anything, anything I want!_

_I can do anything, anything, anything I want!_

_I can do anything, anything, anything I want!_

_It's golden now, why would I slow down?"_

I finally stopped, taking out my phone, and dialing a number.

I don't know why I was such a little douche, I honestly don't. Maybe it was a shield, maybe it was just really who I was.

**WITH KYLER:**

I plugged my headphones in, nodding along to the beat.

_We are young but we have heart_

_Born in this world as it all falls apart_

_We are strong, but we don't belong_

_Born in this world as it all falls apart._

But you should be careful about trying to figure out who you are, sometimes you won't like the answer.

**WITH CONAN:**

I put my CD in the player, humming along to it as the old song played through my ears.

_This ain't a song for the broken hearted_

_No silent prayer for faith departed_

_I ain't gonna be just a face in the crowd_

_Ya gonna hear my voice when I shout it out loud_

_It's my life, and it's now or never_

_I ain't gonna live forever_

_I just wan alive while I'm alive_

_It's my life_

_My heart is like an open highway_

_Like Franken said I did it may way_

_I just wanna live while I'm alive_

_It's my life_

And other people won't really like it either, but once in awhile you come across a unique group of people who love you to much to let that one thing about you bother them. Not for very long anyways.

Ma Kent popped her head in to smile at me, "Conan, you're girlfriend Jenny is on the phone."

I smiled, floating up to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks Ma."

**WITH SNOW:**

I sang out loud with my radio as Heather Dale's voice floated in

_Before I got to fighting (or when fighting got to me)_

_I looked to find examples on the field of chivalry_

_And I saw mighty arms much stronger than my arms could ever be_

_So I thought perhaps the field was not for me_

_But still I stayed and watched the fighting 'til one figure stood apart_

_In armor newly fashioned and a helm more pot than art_

_But each blow was thrown with honor and a lightness of the heart_

_So I took that step which soon became a start_

Because, whether you find out if you're stronger than you ever imagined,

**WITH RAPHAEL**

I sighed, listening to Justin's voice as she finally got to the point of her call, "Look Hot Shot, I know that we've been beating around the bush lately, but we both know where this is headed. I'm sorry, but… I like you, just not as much as I like being single."

I tightened my grip on the phone, "Yeah Justin, I get it. It's been great and all. See ya at school."

I hung up, and then turned to my boom bow, cranking up the volume.

_Shot to the heart!_

_And you're to blame!_

_Darlin you give love,_

_a bad name!_

_Paint your smile, on your lips._

_Blood red nails on your finger tips._

_A school boys dream, you act so shy._

_You're very first kiss was your first kiss goodbye._

Or you find out that you were never as happy as you thought,

I jumped up, rushing into the living room, where Snow was standing, reading from a scroll. I grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled hr into a deep kiss.

Or you find out getting what you really wanted wasn't so hard after all.

**WITH MARY:**

I hummed to myself as I swept around the pews, singing softly.

_Cyrus Jones 1810 to 1913,_

_Made his great grandchildren believe_

_That you could live to a hundred and three_

_A hundred and three is forever when your just a little kid._

_So, Cyrus Jones lived forever._

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_Gravedigger._

Or that you're completely satisfied where you are.

**WITH MICHAEL:**

I sat on the Church roof, sighing as I looked out on Gotham City. I could hear Mary's voice from inside, and couldn't help but quietly sing along.

_Muriel Stonewall 1903 to 1954_

_She lost both of her babies in the second great war_

_Now you should never have to watch_

_as your only children are lowered in the ground_

_I mean, never have to bury your own babies._

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_Gravedigger._

Or that you've just seen to much.

**WITH GABRIEL:**

I passed by the church window as I tucked my helmet, hearing Mary sing. Mary had always been a good singer, she had never realized how good.

_Ring around the rosy_

_Pocket full of posy._

_Ashes to ashes_

_We all fall down_

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_Gravedigger._

I walked over to my motorcycle, jumping on it and pulling his helmet on tightly. I spat out bitterly,

_Little Mickey Carson, 67 to 75._

_He rode his bike like the devil till the day he died._

I sped off, rushing down the highway to gain as much speed as possible, zipping around cars with ease.

_When he grows up,_

_he want's to be Mr. Vertigo_

_on the flying Trapeze._

_Oh, 1940 to 1992._

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_I can feel the rain_

_I can feel the rain_

I saw the dead end sign, and went even faster, singing even louder.

_Gravedigger, when you dig my grave_

_Can you dig it shallow,_

_So that I can feel the rain_

_Gravedigger…_

I drove off the cliff, feeling my body grow heavy, and plummet towards the ground. At the last possible moment, I pulled the string on my parachute, and gently glided to the ground. Once I touched it, I took out my MP3, putting it on shuffle, and walked back to the church.

Or even just coming to the decision that you were sick of everything and everyone around you, and deciding you need pointless thrill to just keep yourself going.

**WITH REX:**

I smiled up at my wall, lined with guns, knives, and grenades. It had taken me months to get them all together.

Or that everything that you've been waiting for is about to happen. Whatever you find out about yourself, just be careful with it.

**BENEATH GOTHAM:**

A hooded figure stood inside a white circle, his eyes glowing red as another hooded figure stepped into the dark, stone room. "Ah, my apprentice. Are we ready to lay siege to Gotham?"

The red eyed boy smirked with mischief, and then raised his fist. Shadows swirled around his figure, in swaying wisps. Suddenly, the shadows shot away from him, hitting his master.

His master fell to the ground, blood pooling beneath his dying figure. The boy walked over to his form, pulling his hood away, revealing skin whiter than the moon, and hair blacker than night. His red eyes held a dark power, "I don't lust for blood like the lot of you, and destroying Gotham was never in my agenda. I've learned all I can from you mad men, and now, I'll use it for myself."

He stepped over the dead body, walking away into the night.

Because you're never in full control, especially when you're still a kid.

**WITH ALL OF THE DR TEAM:**

Every single one of the team switched the music players to shuffle, and the same song played in all of their ears.

_Last day of the rest of my life I wish I would've known_

_Cause I didn't kiss my mama goodbye I didn't tell her that I loved her and how much I care_

_Or thank my pops for all the talks And all the wisdom he shared_

_Unaware, I just did what I always do_

_Everyday, the same routine Before I skate off to school_

_But who knew that this day wasn't like the rest_

_Instead of taking a test I took two to the chest_

_Call me blind, but I didn't see it coming_

_Everybody was running But I couldn't hear nothing _

_Except gun blasts, it happened so fast I don't really know this kid _

_Even though I sit by him in class _

_Maybe this kid was reaching out for love _

_Or maybe for a moment He forgot who he was _

_Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged _

_Whatever it was I know it's because _

_WE ARE WE ARE, THE YOUTH OF THE NATION _

_Little Suzy, she was only twelve _

_She was given the world _

_With every chance to excel _

_Hang with the boys and hear the stories they tell _

_She might act kind of proud _

_But no respect for herself _

_She finds love in all the wrong places _

_The same situations _

_Just different faces _

_Changed up her pace since her daddy left her _

_Too bad he never told her She deserved much better _

_Johnny boy always played the fool _

_He broke all the rules So you would think he was cool _

_H__e was never really one of the guys _

_No matter how hard he tried _

_Often thought of suicide _

_It's kind of hard when you ain't got no friends _

_He put his life to an end _

_They might remember him then _

_You cross the line and there's no turning back _

_Told the world how he felt With the sound of a gat _

_WE ARE WE ARE, THE YOUTH OF THE NATION_

_Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim _

_No matter what you say It don't take away the pain _

_That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies _

_Don't nobody know why _

_It's the blind leading the blind I_

_ guess that's the way the story goes _

_Will it ever make sense _

_Somebody's got to know _

_There's got to be more to life than this _

_There's got to be more to everything I thought exists _

_WE ARE WE ARE, THE YOUTH OF THE NATION_

There's always going to be days when the whole world is resting on your shoulders. It's a cold world, most people just think that they need to get their ass a blanket and learn to stand alone. But there's the smart ones to, the ones who stand together for warmth.

**This is… the best chapter I have ever written.**

**Please excuse all the songs, I thought it added flair.**


	11. Twas The Night Before Christmas

I walked into the living room, seeing Kenya staring up at the old Christmas tree Alfred was going to take down tomorrow. I walked over, sitting down next to her. "Sup little K? Feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Kenya looked up at Justin, a pout on her face, "You haven't talked to me since Christmas."

I smiled, "You mean when you and I waited up all night for Santa?"

"And you ate his cookies." Kenya pouted.

"I left him the milk!"

"Because you're allergic to it." Kenya snapped, holding jabberwocky closer.

I laughed, looking up at the lights on the tree, "Huh, yeah I guess that's the only reason why. Still, if I'm going to stay up all night, I've gotta have fuel."

Kenya giggled, "Dami was up on the roof, setting up cameras."

I shook my head sadly, "We never should have let him watch Rise of the Guardians. Now he's certain Santa is a Russian master of swordsmanship, and he needs to train with him."

"If Santa was real, would you fight with him?' Kenya asked.

I raised an eyebrow down at Kenya, ruffling her blonde hair, "What do you mean, if Santa was real? He's real kid, real fat, real red, and real friendly."

"Is he really Russian?" Damian asked, popping up out of no where.

I nodded, "Oh yeah, he's Russian."

"How do you know?" Kenya asked.

"Oh, that's easy." I smiled, "You may have fallen asleep when we stayed up to see Santa, but I didn't!"

Damian quickly sat on the other side of Justin, "Wait, you saw North? The swordsman of wonder?"

"Guardian of wonder Damian. Guardian of wonder." I said, smiling.

Kenya gasped, grabbing my shoulder, "Tell me Justy! Tell me!"

Ann walked into the room, Holding hands with Jay, "Tell you what?"

Damian shot a look at Ann, "If you must know, clone, Justin has come into contact with Santa Claus, the guardian of wonder, and she is about to tell the tale of how she met said swordsman of Russia."

Ann stared at me for a minute, before sitting down on the couch, "Oh, I've gotta hear this."

Jay nodded, "I'll get the popcorn!"

I rolled my eyes, "Oh brother."

Alfred popped up out of nowhere, "Well, I dare say that's a tale worth telling."

Dad smirked form the door, "I agree, let's all hear about the time my little sidekick met Santa Claus."

Mom rolled her eyes, sitting down in the lazyboy. "Oh come on Jason, I'm sure it really happened!"

I groaned, "Okay, do you people all want to hear the story, or not?"

"What story?" Tim asked, walking in with Dick behind him.

I face palmed, "What are you two even doing here? You don't live here anymore!"

Uncle Dick smiled, "Well, we're teaming up to take down a child slavery ring with Jay."

I glared at Jay as he came back in with the popcorn bowl, "I hate you Jay."

"Love you too kid." Jay said, sitting down beside Ann and slinging his arm over her shoulder. "Now on with the story!"

I rolled my eyes, standing up and crossing my arms, glaring at the camera in the corner of the room, "Hey gramps, you wanna come listen too?"

There was a moment or two of silence, until a voice echoed throughout the house, "I can hear fine from the cave, thanks."

I shook my head, "Something is definitely wrong with this family, okay, whatever! Here it goes: The Story of How I met North, a.k.a. Santa Claus, and Saved Christmas."

"It was a Christmas Eve like any other, Bruce was doing his Batman thing, Alfred was trying to stop Bruce from doing his Batman thing, just for the holidays, we had just stopped Two Face from carrying out a Christmas themed heist, and we were all settling down for the biggest holiday of the year-"

"We know this part!" Damian interrupted, "Skip to the part we don't know!"

"Alright!" I snapped, "Jesus Christ, I'm telling the story!"

"So, after all the sickeningly sweet holiday greets were exchanged, me and Kenya were staying up to try and see Santa Claus. Damian was on the roof, setting up cameras. To which I say: Really? The dude is magic, cameras can't catch him!"

"Todd!"

"Fine! Now pay attention, cause this is where the story gets… juicy."

"So, after everyone else went to bed, eventually Kenya fell asleep too. I stayed up, because I was trying to get black mail of Alfred putting presents under the tree."

"What?" Mom asked, fixing me in her warning glare.

"He's the only one I don't have anything on!" I explained, "And it's so hard to get black mail on the guy, he's a freaking ninja!"

Alfred chuckled, amused. "Indeed, I am, young Miss."

"See?" I asked, "So anyways, let's begin our story."

I yawned, keeping my camera at the ready, waiting for Alfred to walk in with the presents, when the chimney started shaking. The bricks moved form side to side, the mortar in between them looking more like putty that cement. It morphed, pulling itself apart, straight down the middle, until a big ball of white and red popped out.

I grabbed the sleeping form of Kenya, jumping with her behind the sofa. Remarkably, she was still asleep, so, not wanting to wake her up, I set her down under the coffee table, and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the tall figure as he bent beneath our Christmas tree.

"Ah." He said, "Let's see what we have here, Damian Wayne? Naughty! Kenya Todd, Nice! Let's see what I can give her… Ah, I remember I gave her a pink bunny two years ago, how can I follow that up? Oh no, I didn't get her the next year did I? Wasn't she in a hospital, a coma, right? Terrible. I'm going to have to make up for zat year! Oh, idea! I give her magic snow globe!"

"You move and I'll put a bullet in your brain, you psycho!" I snapped, jumping up onto the back of the couch, aiming at his head.

He acted like he didn't even hear me, reaching into his red sack, and pulling out a snow globe with a red bow on it.

"Hey, Saint Nick wanna be, do you _want _me to put lead in yer bowl full of jelly!?" I taunted, cocking my gun.

He froze, looking over his shoulder. His eyes widened, "You… can see me?"

"If I didn't, would I be able to point a gun at your head?" I sassed. "Hands in the air, nimrod."

He held his hands up, "You should not be able to see me, you are… Justine Todd?"

"It's-"

"Justin, I know, I know!" He interrupted, "Don't you know who I am?"

I glared at him, "A really fat guy who broke into my house?"

"I am Santa!" He protested, "Und you! You have _never _sent me a _single _Christmas wish list!"

"… Sorry, most of my Christmases involved me, in a closet, with a couple _bullet _wounds." I said, rolling my eyes.

Santa nodded, "Ah, I remember zat! I alvays vanted to get you a gift, but you never told me vat you vanted!"

I lowered my gun, "Uh… you're Russian?"

"Und so are you!" He declared, "But you are teenager! How can you still believe?"

I frowned, remembering the Rise of the Guardians movie I had seen with Kenya. "Uh, I don't! As far as I know."

He pondered this, stroking his beard, "Den something is very wrong… I feel it, in-"

"Your belly?" I Asked.

"No, in my beard!" He said, "Of course in my belly!"

"Well, hate to burst your bubble, but I'm fine." I told him, strapping my gun back into place, "And I'm awesome, how about you? Who, wait a sec." I felt a grin creep onto my face, "Am I one the naughty list?"

North opened his mouth to reply, but felt himself at a loss for words "I… don't know."

I raised an eyebrow, "Uh, isn't that your job?"

He shook his head, "Yes, zis does not make sense, you! You should be on ze list!"

He grabbed my shoulder, "We must speak to Manny, at once!"

"Wait a minute, Todd!" Damian protested.

"Ugh, what is it now demon child?" I had finally started to tell the story, why the hell does his keep interrupting?

"Why am I on the naughty list!?" He demanded, "I have devoted this past year to defending justice, and stopping villainy!"

"Yes Damian, but you've also killed people, and you're still a little douche." I snapped, "Santa thinks both of those things are naughty."

"You've killed people too." Tim pointed out.

I shrugged, "Well, maybe I'm on the naughty list too, only way to know is to finish the story, if I may?"

Kenya nodded, bouncing up and down with jabberwocky. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" She jumped up on the coffee table, glaring at Damian and Tim, "No more interrupting! I. Wanna. Hear. The story!"

Tim and Damian quickly nodded, having never seen Kenya's bat glare before.

I smirked, "Continuing."

So, North used his magic snow globe to yank me to his workshop, and who would have guessed, Jack Frost was there, in all his troll face glory. What was our little mischief maker doing on Christmas Eve? Freezing elves for fun.

I laughed as one of the little elves fell to the ground, "Well, that's a healthy anger exercise if I've ever seen one!"

He looked up at me, leaning on his staff, "Huh, hey north, who's the chic?"

"I'm standing right here." I snapped, taking out my gun and flipping it around in my hand, "And I've got a loaded gun."

His eyes widened, "What the- what kind of spirit are you!? Carrying around guns? How is that going to help children!?"

"Well, they seem grateful when I shoot the people trying to abuse, kill, rape, and or maim them."

Jack paused, before breaking out into a grin, "So, you're like a ninja?"

"Ninja's ain't got nothin on me!" I said, smirking.

North cleared his throat, "Jack, zis is Justin Todd, from zat, er, special family I vas telling you about."

"You mean the crazy bat people?"

I rolled my eyes, "That's the best description of my family I've ever heard. Goes right up there with cocky bastards and juvenile delinquents."

Bruce's voice echoed through the speakers, "You revealed the family's secrets?"

"Bruce, Jack Frost works with Santa Clause." I said, rolling my eyes.

"So?"

"He's Santa Clause! He already knows, that's why he knows you're a goody two shoes that get's exactly what he wants for Christmas every year. More angst material."

Kenya stomped her foot impatiently, "More story, more story!"

Jack Frost laughed, "You're pretty cool, for a girl."

I cocked my gun, "Say that last part again?"

His eyes widened, "Uh… never mind."

"That's what I thought snow flake."

"What did you just call me?"

I smirked, "Snow flake, it's your new nickname."

He glared at me, "You're lucky you have a gun."

"Never leave home without it."

North suddenly spoke up, "I got it! Idea!"

I looked over at him, "What?"

He smiled, "You are not on either list, because you are neither naughty, nor nice! You do just as many good things, as you do bad!"

I nodded, "Yeah, that actually sounds believable."

Jack nodded, "So, what do we do about it?"

North shrugged, "She has to do someding nice to make up for it, in time to get a Christmas gift. Jack, you take her out! I must continue wid ze presents!"

Jack smiled at me, "Sounds… interesting."

Jack grabbed my shoulders, "Hold on tight, hero girl."

He suddenly took off into the sky, dragging me with him. I yelped, wrapping my arms around his chest, damn this guy was cold!

"So, long story short, he flew me back to Gotham, and after watching me knock some child slavers to and fro, he actually helped me a little. He'd freeze the ground so they'd fall, or throw snow balls. It was actually kind of fun." I admitted, "And of course, with all the sexual tension around the two of us after that, we ended up pulling a naughty on a roof top."

They all stared at me, and Dad's fingers tightened around his gun. "He did what to do?"

I smirked, "It's more, what I did to him."

Mom groaned, "Justin, I have no idea how you made your father want to kill a fictional character, but stop."

Kenya glared at Mom, "Jack Frost is real!"

Jay chuckled, picking Kenya up and pulling her onto his lap, "You aren't helping much Kenya."

Kenya turned back to me, "Well, what happened next?"

I smiled, "Glad you asked."

We went back to the workshop, walking past the Yetis. Jack reached over, gently pulling my jacket up to hide the hickey.

"Justin!"

"Alright, sorry mom."

"Jason, let go of your gun."

"Just give me a few minutes Kim."

North looked up at me, "Vell, I found you on ze list."

I smiled, "So, I'm on the Nice list, right?"

He pinched his lips together, trying to hide a laughed, "Err, no. You see, zere was a different reason behind your name not being on ze list."

"Well, what was it?" Jack asked.

North looked at me, "You remember, in Russia, you vent by a different name for a few years?"

My eyes widened, "Oh no."

He nodded, "Yes, zat is vhat name you are under."

Jack looked at me, "what was your name?"

I looked at North in a pleading way. "Please don't tell him, that name was awful."

Jack smiled mischievously, "You know, as a Guardian, I can simply request the info. We're entitled to know these things."

I glared at him.

He smiled, "Or you can just, tell me."

I sighed, "Alright, look. I had to choose a codename for awhile to be able to go on a long mission with my trainer, Dunya."

North spoke up, "Zat woman is high on Naughty list!"

"So, since the mission was in America, I was supposed to do research on it before choosing my name. While I was, I came across this popular series of spy movies, and I liked the lead actor's character name, so I bummed it off of him."

Jack stared at me, "You mean-"

"Yeah, I changed my name to Bond. Jamie Bond."

Jack laughed, "That's… that's kind of hot."

"If your father tried to shoot Reindeer with his Ak-47, it's your fault Justin!"

"I'll risk it."

I turned back to North, "So… am I on the naughty list?"

North laughed, "On Naughty List!? You beat Jack zis year. You hold new record!"

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face, "… I have been waiting for this moment my entire life." I cleared my throat, turning to all the Yeti who were glaring at me. Apparently they don't like people on the Naughty List. "I'd like to think my father, for teaching me that being a little punk is the greatest joy in the world. Nothing compares to seeing your handy work play out in the end. I'd also like to think my sort-of brother Damian for aiding me in my quest of getting to the top on the Naughty List."

Jack stared at me, "You… beat my record? My Naughty List record, you beat it. I… You are… the hottest girl I have ever met in over three hundred years."

I smirked, "You want another round snow flake?"

He smiled, "If you're game."

North broke in, "Both of your Naughty List records are going up."

I settled backing my chair, smiling at my family, "And that, my dear family, and several on my hate list, is how I, Justin Todd, got the coolest Christmas present ever."

Tim spoke up, "But, wait. You're on the Naughty List, you don't get presents."

"Not from North, but my lover boy gave me one awesome present." I said, grinning.

Dad cocked his gun, "I can't believe I want to pump Jack Frost full of lead."

Kenya looked up at me, "Justy, what's a hickey?"

"… Mom, how about you take this one?"

Damian jumped up, pointing a finger at me, "You! I demand you arrange a time where I may train with Saint Nicholas!"

I held up my hands, "Uh, Damian, he kind of isn't my biggest fan right now. How about the Easter Bunny?"

Damian snorted, "Do not be absurd. Easter is not Christmas."

Jay spoke up, "Well, even if Jack Frost isn't real, Justin, why do you have a hickey on your neck?"

I froze, my hand going to the small bruise on my neck, covering it, "Uh…"

Dad jumped up, "Justine Todd, I want a name, right now!"

"Jack Frost, I swear!"

Tim covered his eyes, "Justin, you're going to curse us with Daddy bat's again!"

Bruce suddenly appeared in the room, "Justin, answer your father before he throws a TV through my wall again."

I bit my lip, and grabbed my grappling line, "Uh, look at that window, it's not broken!"

I dashed to the window, jumping into it, shattering it and falling out, before I shot my grappling hook at a nearby tree, and swung off. I fell to the ground in a roll, standing up quickly. "Whew, close one."

Snow from the branches above me suddenly fell on my head, and I sprawled on the ground, laughing. "Don't be like that Jack."


	12. The Bitter Truth

Thanks to Conan getting me hooked on that damn soap opera, I felt like being dramatic. So I went down to DR, got a tub of ice cream and bitched about my situation with Ann and Jay to the whole team (and Valiant, who I guess has pretty much become our mascot since she's always hanging around me or Conan).

"So it turns out that not only is that jerk Jay hanging around my family, it turns out it's all my mothers' clones fault!" I then shove a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth.

Everybody looks at me, their mouths hanging open.

Conan then starts laughing. "Who the hell needs TV? Your life is _way _more dramatic than any soap! Haha, haha!"

I shoot Conan the dirtiest look I can without it being considered a bat glare. "Yuck it up while you can kryptonian, but my revenge will be slow and painful." I eat more ice cream.

Valiant pipes in. "So this super attractive dude not only has mad ninja skills, but actually risked his life to get the girl he's head over heels for back to her family? I think we all agree how that sounds."

Everybody gives a nod.

Conan speaks "Cheesy."

Valiant "Sexy."

Raphael "Corny as hell."

Kyler " Kinda hot."

Mary "I honestly don't care."

Michael "Is she hot?"

Gabriel "Don't care either."

Snow "Very romantic!"

I looks at the team, and I'm not sure what I was expecting but it sure as _hell _wasn't that.

"Thanks for the help guys, I mean really, thank you for the freaking help!" I storm out and slam the door.

"Ok, I know I'm gonna end up being 'that girl', but she's been here less and less since her 'house guests' popped up. And… well, I think we need a new leader." Mary said reluctantly.

**BACK AT THE MANOR:**

I park my motorcycle in the cave, and just guess who's working on something in 'the lab'? Jay looks up to see me glaring at him a usual. "What's up?"

I continue to glare. "What the hell are you working on?" I gesture to the mess of pieces on the work table.

"Building a time machine so I can go back in time and tell Jason 'Put on the condom! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, _PUT ON THE CONDOM_!'"

If it's even possible, I glare at him harder. "Fine. I'm working on a GPS tracker, mine took me to a pizza place the first time I tried to get here a few months ago."

I scoff. "Something not going well for you for once in your life?"

Jay looks up at me, not really sure where that came from. "Who pissed in you Cheerios?"

"You did the minute you came into my life! That clone hussy is the only reason you had to come here, and as much as I don't like it, she's at least somewhat family being my moms' clone. So I can't make her leave, but it's time you finally take the hint and get the hell out!"

Jay looks me in the eye, his eyes slightly widened. "Really? Cause your father and Mother want me to stay, so I think I'm more than welcome here."

Jay gets up, and I see that he's wearing a red tee shirt and a black pair of sweat pants. "What's with the sweats? You sleep in all day?" I ask very hatefully.

"No, actually I've been training all day." Jay responds nonchalantly, not even turning to look at me.

"Pfft, I've never even seen you fight, and I know I could take you." I stop talking. And come up with an awful, awful idea. "How about you and I go a few rounds in the ring?"

Jay looks at me, and I can tell he wants too, very badly. "You sure? "

I scoff. "Please, I've been wanting to clean your clock since I met you."

They get in the middle of the ring, and taking a fighting stance. I go at him with a jump kick, but Jay ducks out of the way and goes at me with a leg sweep, knocking me on my ass. "Huh, surprised you use Capoeira."

Jay matches me move for move, no matter what I throw at him. Tae Kwon Do, Ninjutsu, Sambo, Karate , Jiu-jitsu, no matter what I use he countered and pushed me back every time.

Every move that I used that dad taught me did absolutely squat, and since that was most of my style that was not good. I tried moves that Bruce and Dick taught me. Those managed to get him on defense, but nothing connected.

But then I threw a haymaker that Jay barely blocked , swiped my leg under his foot, then threw another haymaker that connected square with his Jaw. I kicked his diaphragm to finish the combo.

"Those were your mothers' moves." Jay growls, spitting blood out of his mouth.

"Yep, haven't used that for a while. What's the matter? Have ya had enough? Maybe your dad didn't slap you as round as hard as you thought? Maybe your bitch mother can come down her and kiss your booboo's? "

Jay looks at me, and I can tell that he's mad. "That's it! I'm done going easy on you!"

I roll my eyes. "Please! I'm Justin freaking To-"

I'm cut off by Jays fist connecting with my stomach. He hit me so hard I think I might throw up. "There isn't a person in the tri-state area that you haven' told who you are! Get it threw that thick, bratty head of yours that who you are doesn't matter! Stop throwing your name around like your some big important person! Cause I guess I'm gonna be the first to say, you're not special! Cops, Fire fighters, and about 2000 other vigilantes risk their lives every day like you, minus the preaching about their tortured lives or how cool they are!"

I get up and try to throw a punch at Jay, but he blocks then elbows my back. "And don't even get me started on 'protecting' your family! You've threatened to kill me to protect them every day for weeks! If I wanted to hurt them, I would've done it a long time ago, and there isn't a damn thing you could do about it! I'm stronger, I'm faster, and not nearly as hot headed!"

Jay punches me in the face again. "And for your information, my father's responsible for almost every scar on my body, and I never met my mother! So you got to live with a loving mother for the first two years of your life, then eight years of training under that tramp Dunya, then the last 6 years with Jason Todd, who would never torture a child, and would never yell at you about being soft?! Until I met Ann, I'd never even been told _I love you_!"

"So you know what? You can just-" Jay just stops, and looks me in the eye. He sighs, then starts walking away. "I'm gonna get Alfred to stitch you up, then I'll ask your parent's if I have to leave."

After about 15 minutes, Alfred comes down, and leads me to get stitched up. After a few moments of awkward silence, Alfred speaks. "Miss Justin, You should know we were all watching your match with Jay from one of the camera's, and after coming to fetch me was given a lecture by your parents. But before you start getting excited; they understand that you have been provoking the boy for months, and that he could have hurt you much more than he did."

I just huff. "Of course they understand. After all, he's just so damn perfect."

Alfred sighs. "Justin, you must understand something. That boy is unbelievably envious of you. And the reason is that, and these were his words, "Jason likes me, but no matter what I do, Jason will never come close to caring about me as much as any them. He respects me, but no matter what she'll ever do, he'll always love her."

I just looked at Alfred. "And when the boy tried to get you to like him, I was the one who told him to give you a case. So I must take a measure of responsibility for Rango's accident. But the boy has spent at least half an hour a day helping me care for him, and if it wasn't for the fact that you'd kill him for being near the dog, I'm sure he'd be doing more."

For once in my life, I have nothing to say.

"I understand that you're angry about everything that's happened. And that Jay at least deserves to be watched closely. But he also deserves a chance to prove himself, like you, your mother and the rest of the children have. And be completely honest, you've said so yourself that you didn't blame him for what happened to Rango. And everything he's told us so far leads to the conclusion that your death would have made his job of bringing Ann here much more difficult."

Alfred sighs. "I'm afraid miss Justin, that you must except the fact that you don't like the boy because he's not only another person to fight for attention with, but it also burns you up that he knew your father before you did."

I just sit there, contemplating whether to just keep pouting, or to grab one. Alfred soon leaves, and I get a text from Kyler.

_Bad news, we need to talk at DR._

**AT DR:**

I walk in, seeing Kyler in the front room, "What's wrong? Terrorist threats?"

She shook her head, "Justin, we've got, no, _you've _got a big problem."

"Yeah, I know. He's about six foot six, black hair, tattoo on his chest, says IV-"

"No!" She snapped, "_Jesus_, Justin! Do you know where the others are?"

I shook my head "Nope. Hold on, I've got trackers on all of them, I can find out-"

She stopped me, "No. I already know, they're in the other room, talking about a replacement leader."

My eyes widened, "What?"

"You've barely been spending any time here at all since Jay arrived, Gabriel picked up all your extra hours. They think you're slipping, you've lost interest in the team."

No. No, this is _not _how the game is played! I toy with them, not the other way around! That's why I made this team, it was a game!

But that's not what it turned into.

I looked down the wall of the front room, seeing all the trophy cases, filled with souvenirs from every major mission we've ever had.

There were a few of Kyler's, a vial of fear glass form Scarecrow and Cheshire's arrow.

Conan had brought in a tooth from Killer Croc, after a brawl with him in the sewers.

Even Snow had brought in a trophy. She had gone up against a bunch of Penguin thugs last month, and had brought back Penguin's monocle. (The eye piece he wears)

And of course, the evil Jason's mask from the parallel dimension we went to.

But what really drew my attention was the photo we had hanging up above all the trophies. It was a picture Conan had taken on our first day at DR, we were all standing out front, in uniform. Just a simple picture. The original four members of DR.

"Justin, are you listening?"

I snapped back to reality, staring at Kyler, "Uh, who do they want to replace me?"

She sighed, "They wanted me, I refused. I told them you were just going through a tough time, that you'll be back on the horse soon. You will, right?"

I was at a loss of words, "Uh, so after you said no, who did they pick?"

"What- Gabriel, now can you just get in there and put a stop to all this!?" Kyler snapped.

"They think Gabriel is better than me?"

"If you aren't in lead, and I'm not in lead, his stats make him the best." Kyler explained. "His hand to hand combat is better than all the others. Now, are you gonna go and stop this?"

"I-"

"_I'll step down from being leader the minute some one better comes along or one of you get's better."_

"I made a promise." I mumbled, walking past Kyler and looked into the room where the others were talking, "Hey, Gabriel, can I talk to you?"

He stood up, following me into the computer room. He was silent as I sat down in the computer chair, eyes scanning the monitors. Eventually, he spoke up.

"Justin, I'm sorry, really. I didn't want to be leader, but they kept convincing me to accept, and I just-"

"I ain't mad at you." I said, "I'm not mad at them either. I messed up, not you, not them."

"But, all you did was take a bit of a time out, you're still-"

"I. Messed. Up." I stressed. "I let my personal problems get in the way of what should have come first. I've gone my whole vigilante career preaching about my name, and how I uphold what it means, but all I've done it be a punk ass."

Gabriel stared at me, "But, you like being a punk ass-"

"Yeah, I like acting like one. And up until today I thought that's all it was. An act. But apparently, if you spend enough time acting like one, you'll become one. I've gotten sloppy, and I've neglected my job." I stood up, "When the four of us started this team, we quit not even two days afterwards. We picked it back up, for the sole reason because the Teen Titans had separately tried to recruit all of us once they heard. They had been waiting for the opportunity. So, we decided to prove them wrong. And from that, we became friends, we became a family."

I sighed, "Over a few months, we added new members, Raph, you three. And when me and you fought on the roof of your church… you're good. You were trained since you were six, right? You've got skill."

Gabriel opened his mouth to talk, but I stopped him, "Look, I'm tired of this hero game. At least for now, I need a break. Kyler would never take my place. She's just… too golden. I'm asking, no, I'm ordering you to become the new leader of DR."

He took a deep breath, "Justin, I'll never be as good as you."

I shrugged, "I don't expect you to be, I was trained my whole life by friggin' ninja's after all. All I expect, is that when I get done with this break, when I come back, everything better be _exactly _how I left it. No new members arriving, no old members dying. Got it?"

Gabriel smirked, "Huh, now _that's _the Justin I know."

I smirked right back, "And don't you ever forget, you touch any of my stuff here, I'll know. And I _will _kill you for it. Especially the black suitcase under my bed."

**THE NEXT DAY, AFTER SCHOOL:**

I tossed the Frisbee into the air, and Rango took off after it, jumping into the air to catch it, and doing a back flip on his way down, landing perfectly. He ran back over to me, giving the Frisbee, "Good boy!"

I scratched behind his ears, "Man, it's been forever since we've done this, huh?"

I threw the Frisbee again, and he took off after it.

I heard someone walk up behind me, and then heard him speak. "Shouldn't you be at DR right now?"

Rango ran back over, giving the Frisbee back. I took it gently, then looked over my shoulder at Dad, "Taking a break from Dr, working on myself for awhile."

I threw the Frisbee again, and I heard him come up behind me, giving me a one armed hug, "I think that's a good idea."

He went back inside, and that's when I started to wonder just how long Dad had forced himself to not get onto me about being such a douche.

It really sucks when you realize how low of a person you are.

Rango nuzzled my hand, wagging his tail.

Good thing not everyone thinks you are.


	13. Jeff Dunam Style!

Kyler had no idea how she and Justin had ended up babysitting Austin, Olivia, Kenya, and Alyssa that weekend at DR. Something to do with their parents insisting the little kids were more socially active. Kyler had protested at first, but after seeing first hand what happened to someone when they were anti-social (being the entire Bat-family, but oddly Justin was the one who popped into her mind at the thought of her little sister becoming Bat-clan material) she agreed full heartedly with their parents.

So, after a long day of making sure no cars hit the little kids, ice cream was always within grabbing distance, and fighting off several thugs who wanted to kidnap the kids and sell them as sex slaves, Justin was thoroughly pissed, and needed an outlet.

Kyler never thought she would take it out on a beloved children's classic.

When they wanted a bedtime story, Austin had begged for 'The Night Before Christmas' to be read. Kyler couldn't refuse, and she didn't want Justin telling her little siblings her version of Rise of the Guardians, so the book had been brought out.

Justin frowned, watching the kids snuggle under blankets, "So, what's this book about again?"

Kyler stared at her, "You've never read 'The Night Before Christmas'?"

"I've watched The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"Obviously." Kyler said, rolling her eyes, "But really, this is a major stepping stone for kids, you should listen in. You know, gain a piece of your childhood back."

Justin nodded, "Alright then. Considering this is a Christmas novel, all Muslim children should go to the bathroom."

Kyler rolled her eyes, opened the book, and started reading to the kids "Twas the-"

"Hold it!" Justin protested.

"What?" Kyler asked.

"Who the hell says twas?" Justin asked.

"It's in the story."

"It's old and stupid."

"It's tradition!"

"Tis it?"

Kyler cleared her throat, "Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house-"

"Why is it a house?" Justin asked.

"What?" Kyler groaned

"There's kids who live in apartments!" Justin explained. "How does Santa Clause get to the kids in the apartments _Kyler_!? They have to buzz his ass in." Justin made a buzzing sound, "Santa Clause, let me up!"

Kyler growled, "And all through the apartments, not a creature was stirring-"

"Except for the drunk Jews in 2B." Justin smirked, "They're drunk, and hitting each other with Menorahs. Oy Ve. That's Jewish for holy shit!"

Kyler face palmed, before continuing, "Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

"Mouse!?"

"Justin-"

"Mouse!? You wish! You live in an apartment. That's a rat!"

Kyler took a deep breath, counting to ten, before continuing. "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care."

"And believe me," Justin interrupted, "The room could use some fresh air!"

"Justin, I'm trying to-"

"I mean, seriously! How did that tradition get started? Hanging dirty laundry in in hopes Santa Clause will fill them with goodies?" Justin fake gagged, "I'd like to suck on this candy cane, but it smells like Dad's feet!"

"You're ruining this story for the kids, Justin!"

"What about the part where the kids are sleeping, with sugar plumbs dancing in their heads? What does that mean!? I think they're hallucinating!" Justin gasped, then sighed, "These poor apartment children are on drugs!"

Kyler glared at her, and Justin laughed, "Santa's gonna bring me a GI-Joe! And a link."

Kyler rubbed her forehead, hoping against hope that these kids weren't going to be scared by Justin breaking down the story like she did.

She shook her head, trying to continue. "With Mommy in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just settled down-"

"For a big snort of crack!"

"Oh my God, Justin!"

"Wait, you've got to get to the part where Santa get's _busted _for breaking and entering, where the hell is that?" Justin asked.

"It's not breaking an entering!"

"Oh contraire, monfraire, I think it qualifies~!" Justin sang.

"As I drew in my head and was turning around, down the chimney, Saint Nicholas, came with a bound."

"He fell down?"

"Yes!" Kyler snapped, exasperated.

"Doesn't it say his face is all red? Cheeks like apples, nose like a cherry?

"Yes."

"Why does no one else see this!?" Justin said, pointing at the illustration of Santa, "He is drunk, off his _ass_!"

She shook her head sadly, "This is a horrible, _horrible _story for children!"

Kyler had to count to ten again. "He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot, and his clothed were all tarnished, with ashes and soot."

"Ugh!" Justin pretended to be horrified. "Fat, drinking and driving, in a furry _gay _outfit, covering in soot, which means he's smoking, and this father lets him in the house because he had something for his kids?"

Kyler marked her page, closed the book gently, and slapped herself in the face with it. Why did she think reading this when Justin was around was a good idea?

"What the hell kind of father is he, anyway!?" Justin criticized, "If I were that father, I'd check his ID, then tazer his fat ass- wait, how fat is this guy anyway!?"

Kyler hit herself with the book again.

"Everyone's leaving him plates full of cookies, he's probably a diabetic too by now, don't you think!?"

Kyler looked at the kids as they stared wide eyed at Justin, "They will never recover from this…"

"I can't wait to here the sequel next year. The Night Before Christmas Part Two! Santa's on dialysis and he's missing a leg. And all his little dollies have poliosis."

Kyler snapped her head up at Justin, "Can I finish the story!?"

"Oh please do!" Justin said, putting her hands together in a praying motion, "This is so much fun!"

Kyler sighed for the umpteenth time. "He sprang to his sleigh, to his team, gave a whistle-"

"Gotta go quick, cause there's a cop with a pistol."

"Justin, for the love of God!"

"Okay okay, that was the last time. Finish the story Kyler!"

"Fine!" Kyler growled, "But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight-"

"Merry Christmas to all- oh crap! I ran over your bike, cause I'm drunk off my ass and shouldn't be driving."

Kyler slapped the book shut, "What the hell do you have against Santa!?"

"I have nothing against my friend from Mother Russia, but i have everything against that gay assed poedo you Americans try and pass off as Santa." Justin spat bitterly.

"Justin, you're an American."

"I hate America, I miss Russia!" Jusitn broke away from the group, curling up into a small ball and whimpering, "I wanna go back to Mother Russia!"

Kyler bit her lower lip, taking out her cellphone, dialing a number quickly, "Um, Mr. Todd? I think... I think I broke your daughter..."

There was a pause, and then a sigh, "Did you tell her she wasn't Russian?"

"Kind of."

There was a long groan, "I'm coming. Whatever you do, _don't_ bring up the fact she wasn't born in Russia."

"She wasn't?"

"Keep quiet!"

**THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL:**

Valiant sat down to my left, "Hey Justin, heard through the grape vine we're getting a new student, a boy."

I looked up, seeing she had dyed her hair a different color again. She had pure white now, and instead of a mohawk, she had gelled it into punk rock points.

"So?"

"So, I might be getting a new hotty to bang." She smirked.

"You clearly need therapy, but damn it all, I ain't gonna give it to ya."

Rex sat down next to my right, "Dude, did you to your Geometry homework?"

I stared at him for a minute, and then busted into laughter, "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

He raised an eyebrow, "What's so funny?"

My teacher shouted from the front of the class, "Justin Todd, what's all the commotion!?"

I wiped tears from my eyes, still laughing, "Haha, he asked me if… Pfft! If I did my Geometry homework!"

My teacher laughed too, as did most of the class, until Valiant spoke up, "Sorry Rex, Justin's kind of famous for not doing any work… whatsoever."

"I do class work, and tests." I defended. "And I have a perfect score in PE!"

My teacher just laughed again, "Alright, settle down class, we have a new student joining us, so everyone say hello to Tripp."

A boy walked in, and me and Valiant immediately glared daggers at him. He was wearing

Black skinny jeans with a thick leather belt and a chain coming off one side. His shirt was a black mesh material with graffiti letters reading 'wake me when the apocalypse is over and only hardcore people are still alive' in bold letters. His combat boots had bright red buckles and green zippers.

His hair was black, and gelled up into a mohawk. His eyes were a startling shade of blood red. Must wear contact lenses. Besides that, his skin was a deathly shade of white. Even whiter than Jack Frost. I hummed to myself a little, remembering Jack.

"Tripp maintains a 4.6 grade point average, and he has won several awards for art and poetry."

"What a douche." Valiant spit.

"Yeah." I agreed, "I kinda wanna kick his ass."

Rex stared at us, "What the hell did he do to piss you two off."

I turned to Rex, "No one comes to this school and dresses like bad asses except us."

Valiant nodded, "Yeah, why do you think those emo kids who used to hang out behind the bleachers dress like scene kids now? All thanks to Justin's fists of fury."

I smirked, "Yeah, we're the only ones at this school who can wear all black with chain and combat boot accessories."

"… How do you manage to sound so girly and so not girly at the same time?"

"I fail to see what part of that was girly." I mumbled.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, you wouldn't."

Tripp walked to the back of the class, sitting in the only available seat, on the other side of Valiant. She glared at him, then flipped him the bird. He ignored her, immediately pulling out a leather notebook and started scribbling in it.

Rex rolled his eyes again, "Oh come on girls, he's probably a pretty cool guy." He leaned across the aisle, putting his elbow on the edge of my desk and smiling over past Valiant, at Tripp. "Hey dude, I'm Rex."

"Then be a good doggy and go chase your own tail for awhile." Tripp said without even looking up from his notebook.

Rex sat back in his seat, glaring daggers at Tripp. "Now I see what you mean."

All three of us flipped Tripp off at the same time.

What really pissed us all of is he didn't even look up.

At lunch Tripp sat outside bye himself, at a picnic table near the edge of the outside eating area. I ground my teeth together, "He's sitting at _our _table."

Rex stared at me and Valiant, "Who says it's your table?"

"We sit there every day." Valiant explained.

"Someone needs to put the new kid sin his place." Rex suggested.

"Go kick his ass Justin." Valiant ordered.

I paused, "But, this guy is so passive aggressive, what if he doesn't fight back?"

Valiant didn't miss a beat, "Will he bleed? Cause that's all we care about."


	14. CULTIST VS ASSASSIN!

"Yeah, go on Justin, kick his ass!" Rex encouraged. Wow, Rex must really hate this guy, he hardly ever encourage violence.

As I walked away, I heard Valiant whisper, "Fifteen bucks on the other kid, you want it?"

I didn't hear Rex's reply, but if he wouldn't take the bet, I seriously needed new civilian friends. Or maybe just check back in with DR? I wonder how Raph is doing. I kinda feel bad about breaking up with him. But it's not really _my _fault he couldn't handle my family.

"Hey, asshole." I snapped, crossing my arms at Tripp.

He looked up, raising an eyebrow at me, "What?"

"You're sitting at our table." I snapped, "I don't know what hick town you come from, but I'm sure, wherever you were, you were the scary bad ass there. No one messed with you, because they had never seen a punk before. But this is New York, and we're the bad kids in this school."

He leaned back, closing his leather notebook. "You're a bad kid, huh?"

"Yep."

"Ha, I grew up in a _cult_. They were always trying to cram the 'clean humanity by baptizing Gotham in its own blood' safety net down my throat every day."

I glared at him, "I was raised by cut throat assassins. They would beat me, slash me, shoot me, and then leave me to heal."

"Cultists kept telling me I was meant to be the Anti-Christ."

"Assassins kept telling me I was a born killer, destined to serve death itself."

We stared each other down for a few moments, until he stood up, looked me right in the eyes, and hand out his hand, "Tripp. Known in some circles as the Anti-Christ."

I took it, "Justin. Known in some circles as Justine."

He sat back down, and I sat down next to him, "So what's in the notebook anyways?"

He opened it up, "Take a look, but be careful what you read out loud."

"Are you Wiccan?"

"No."

"Just checking." I leafed through the book, and to my surprise, yes there was a lot of weird writing in that that practically screamed cult, but there was also pretty damn good pictures.

There was a dragon, curled over the spoils of war, which were not gold coins and precious stones, but thousands upon thousands of bodies.

A scene that looked like old time London, with a figure in the shadows, stalking a young girl. Jack The Ripper?

A boy and girl, kneeling on the ground facing each other, surrounded by a whirlwind of ravens. Romance and horror, in one sketch.

Silhouette of a person, standing at the beginning of what seemed to be a never ending hallways, lined with lockers. It conveyed hopelessness, particularly around high school outcasts.

Two wolves, locked in a battle of teeth and claws. That one was about being born to kill, living with your nature every day, and hating yourself for it, but not being able to stop. Or maybe just two wolves. I should probably lighten up.

A horse, rearing back, about to trample over it's clearly abusive rider. Rebellion.

One picture stood out from the others. This one had a black hoodie on, she was facing the front, but the face area under the hood had been shaded, so there were no facial features. The black hoodie ended at the waist, where a simple pair of sketched jeans and a belt with a lot of utility pockets took over. Her shoes were red converse, and she held a large scythe, the end touching the ground, the blade held high above her head.

"You drew a female version of the grim reaper?"

He checked out the picture I was viewing, "That's not the Grim Reaper. That's a girl I met."

"The scythe makes her look totally bad ass."

"In real life she doesn't have a scythe." He said, "Her name is Black Hood."

I looked up at him, "You know Black Hood? As in, the vigilante Black Hood?"

He nodded, "She saved my life a few months ago. Growing up in a cult, they told us all that outsiders would hate us. That they would take one look at us, and want us to die. Black Hood wasn't like that."

I remember him!

_Patrol was usually boring in this part of Gotham, all that was out here was mostly empty warehouses. Some of them might have smuggled drugs or guns, but there was no gang activity, and no residency that we knew of. I was looking forward to a long and very boring patrol._

"_Let go of me!"_

_Or not._

_I took off across roof tops, stopping to stare down into an alley. There was a boy, about my age, with a big, dirty, red t-shirt and baggy jeans. He was being manhandles by two big, older men. "Let go of me!"_

"_Just shut up and take it like a man." One of them hissed while trying to lick his ear._

"_This ends now!" I shouted, jumping down onto the fire escape, and firing a shot into his head. He fell with a thud the other man let go of the teenager, stumbling away from where I perched._

"_Oh no, your Batman!"_

"_No you idiot, I'm Black Hood!"_

"_The Red Hood!?"_

"_Black Hood! I'm the Red Hood's sidekick!" I jumped down into the alley, pointing my gun at him, "And you're going to be an example."_

_I shot him three times, twice in one leg, and one in the stomach. His screamed echoes off the alley walls, filling my ears like sweet music. This was vengeance. This is what monsters deserved. "Now bleed out you bastard."_

_I turned back to the teenager, and he back up from me, but only succeeded in tripping over his own feet and falling on his ass. "You alright kid?"_

_He nodded slowly, "Uh yeah. You're… Black Hood?"_

"_Yes I am. You want and autograph? I can do an autograph."_

Have I really been that much of an ass? Dude nearly got raped, and I ask him if he wants an autograph?

"_Uh, no that's okay. But, why did you-"_

"_Kill him?"_

"_Help me."_

"_Why wouldn't I? You're human, I'm human, mankind sticks together and all that."_

"_No, I mean, really. Why would you help me? You don't know me."_

_I looked him in the eyes, surprised to see they were red. He must be one of those goth kids that were contacts. "Because, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't. I would have nightmares myself about what these men would have done to you."_

"That's the thing about Black Hood." Tripp continued, "She is no one, and everyone. No one could be her, and yet everyone could be her. She didn't care what I was, or who I was. All she saw was someone who needed her help, and she helped me."

"You aren't appalled by the fact she kills criminals instead of arresting them?"

He laughed, "That's why I drew her with the scythe. She's different from Batman and Robin. She serves as cop, judge, jury, and executioner. She has the right to make that choice to kill, because no one else will. Even in the American Constitution, it states that we have to right to defend ourselves and our property, if law enforcement can't. And law enforcement sure as hell wasn't there to help me. She was."

He took his notebook back, and then his eyes met mine. He smirked, "And I remember her voice _very _well."

"Good for you."

I got up to walk away, but he stopped me, grabbing my arm.

"Unless you want to lose that hand, I suggest you let go."

He let go, "Can I walk you to class?"

"What?"

He stood up, smiling. "Can I walk you to your next class?"

"I can walk myself."

"It's not because you can't walk, it's more for me getting the pleasure of your company."

I bit my tongue, and then slowly pulled it away from my teeth, letting the taste buds scrape against my incisors. "Fine."

He walked with me out of the lunch room, past a gaping Valiant and Rex. I gave them a shrug, but didn't say anything.

Is that what Black Hood really was to civilians? A hero, so golden, she shone like diamonds? That was the farthest thing from what I was. I wasn't a hero, but I wasn't an assassin anymore either. I'm not sure what I am.

But I really wanted to be someone who deserved the praise Tripp had given me.

Tripp left me at my classroom, and Valiant eventually caught up. "What the hell Justin! You were supposed to kick his ass, not bro zone him!"

"Bro zone?"

"It's like friend zone, but less… friendly." She explained, "I mean, what could he have possibly done in five minutes to turn you into a passive aggressive hoe!"

"The hell did you just call me!?"

She rolled her eyes, "I saw the way you were staring at him, you like him! Enough to not kick his ass. Hoe! Five minutes, that's all it takes with you!?"

"You're one to talk." I snapped.

"Hey, I don't hook up with a guy after five minutes. If I did that, I would be a whore. Right now, I'm just easy. And I like it that way!"

"Shut up, slut."

"You're the red head."

"What?"

"Look up what that means online. I guarantee you'll want to die your hair, immediately."

"… I'd rather not."


	15. Valentines Day

**WITH CONAN:**

I stared in the mirror, seeing that I had _finally _finished getting my hair the way it needed to look for this date. "God, please, I know I'm not exactly your favorite person in the world, mostly because I don't really believe in you… right not such a great start. So, anyways, Valentines Day, and I'm taking out my girlfriend. Now, if you exists, please, please, please, do not let me make a total ass of myself!"

I heard my dad laugh from downstairs, "Are you stressing out _that _much about this?"

"I've never had a Valentine's Day dat before Dad." I shouted back down to him. He floated up the stairs, cracking the door to smile in at me, "You look fine, and Jenny is a lucky girl."

"Thank you!" I sighed, relieved. "Now just to make myself believe that."

He laughed, shaking his head, "Just go out there and have fun."

I flew to the restaurant, trying not to ruin my hair, wand waited outside for Jenny. I fidgeted nervously with my red plaid button up shirt. What if she doesn't like my outfit? What if I say the wrong thing? What if she doesn't like my Valentines gift?

"Conan?"

I turned around, and saw Jenny standing there, looking drop dead gorgeous. Her hair was pinned up into a decorative bun, with several small braids running through it. She was wearing a long green dress with a crossed back, and pink high heels.

"Happy Valentines day." She smiled, holding out three _huge _chocolate bars, wrapped in a red ribbon.

"Jenny… you _rule_." I whispered, just thinking about all that chocolate.

I held out her Valentines Day present, a stuffed pink teddy bear. She smiled, took the bear, and kissed me on the cheek, "I love you baby."

**WITH RAPHAEL:**

"Freaking out, freaking out, freaking out." I mumbled, running around the living room, setting candles down, throwing rose metals in random places, and praying to God that I don't _burn _anything.

Snow and I have never really talked about our relationship, but ever since I broke up with Justin, we've kind of been dating ish… we've kissed, several times, but I've never really taken her anywhere unless her friends or my friends were there too. Snow at guys night was something to see.

How are the participants at my guys nights? Me, Michael, Gabriel, and… oddly, some homeless guy we seen every now and then on the street. According to the sign he holds up, he's a twenty-one year old Vietnam veteran.

I looked around the room one last time. Scented candles, check. Rose petals, check. Soft music, I grabbed the remote, turning on the play list I made. Remember Everything came through the speakers. Damn! Not that play list!

This little voice in my head popped up, I like to call it my inner bastard, because honestly, the voice sounds like a younger version of my late father. Honestly, I think everybody has a voice like there.

Like when you're driving on the freeway, and your entire lane stops, then you switch over to the next lane, that voice says, _That was your fault. The entire free way is pissed off at you right now. I hope they pull you over and beat your ass, idiot!_

This particular moment it was screaming, _Way to go, retard! This girl is entirely out of your league, she has never once celebrated Valentines day, and you're screwing it up! This is her first Valentines day, and you're screwing it up by playing Five Finger Death Punch! Idiot!_

Damn I hate my father. Like when I got my first middle school report card, he looked at my grades and said "Let's see if we can make a word out of all these letters. Oh, I know! Fccdd."

Thank you for your loving support father.

_You know what else starts with the letter F? Failure, fool, feeble._

"Well how about _foster parent_, you jerk." I hissed.

"Raphael?" I looked up, eyes wide, seeing Snow standing there, staring at me. No! Not yet, it isn't ready. "Why are there flowers in your hair?"

_You did it again, idiot!_

"Uh, Happy Valentines day?"

She stared at me a minute, before laughing, and kissing my cheek. She ran her fingers through my hair, brushing away the flower petals. "I smell something burning."

"Shit!" I shout, running to the kitchen and throwing the oven open. The chicken, no, it's not chicken anymore. What is now on my dinner pan cannot legally be considered chicken. It's more like an ember now.

I take it out of the oven, the hot metal not even bothering my hands, and throw the whole thing in the sink, pouring water over it.

I groan at the charred mess in the sink, and contemplated setting it on fire again. Just to make myself feel a little better.

Snow walks in, "You were making dinner?"

I slumped to the floor, "Baby, I'm sorry, I just… it was our first Valentines Day, and I wanted you to be happy."

_Yep, you ruined her first ever Valentines Day. Idiot._

She knelt down next to me on the floor, "Do you know what makes me happy?"

I look up at her, taking in her white hair, her porcelain skin, and her beautiful smile.

"What makes me happy is the fact that you went so out of your way to try and make a nice valentines Day for me." She kissed my forehead, "Now go into the living room, and turn on one of those MMA fights you like so much, while I order hot wings for the night."

My jaw dropped as she stood up and reach for the phone, and taking out the untraceable credit card Justin's grandfather gave to us whenever we needed to buy something. We didn't get paid regularly, we got an unlimited credit card. With the Bat-symbol on it. Rad. "Snow, babe, I just… I love you so much."

**WITH JASON:**

Jay spoke over the football game, "So, what are you and Kim doing for V-day?"

"I figured I'd take her out to this Mexican place she really likes, take her to an illegal bar fight in town, then take her back here and rock her all night." I explained, the plans of the evening love drifting through my mind.

"Really? That's all?"

I snapped out of my train of thought, which happened to involve handcuffs tonight, to stare at him, "What?"

"I mean, Jason, she's the wife of your child, the legal mother of your adopted child, and you're not going to try and, I don't know, maybe commit a little?"

I took a sip of my beer, "What do you have in mind?"

Jay smiled, "Well, honestly you're going to think I'm crazy, but here's what I think. You were dating, you died, you come back after _years_, and Kim hasn't moved on. If that doesn't scream true love, I don't know what does. Then you knock her up, and instead of trying to bash your head in with a frying pan-"

"She runs away with my unborn child, and indirectly leads to Justin's life getting screwed." I finished.

Jay sighed, "Yes, but come on man, you had just come back form the _dead_. You were incredibly bi-polar. If she had told you the news, there was no telling whether you would turn into Saint Peter because of it, or you would go on a mass killing spree because of it. In her shoes… damn, I would have done the same thing."

I stared at him, "Wait, really?"

"When Kim's memories were placed into Ann, I was in the room. So, as a side effect, I got downloaded with them too." He shuddered a bit, and I could only imagine knowing first hand what goes through a woman's head would do to a man. "I remember what went through her mind when she drove away. She cried, the whole way to the airport. And when she got on the plane, she locked herself in the bathroom and cried there too. She got to London-"

"She went to London?" I asked. Why would she go there? There were hundred of cooler places for her to go.

"Yeah. She was morbidly depressed for weeks. She contemplated suicide, but didn't because it would have killed her baby too. She was to sad to leave her apartment, and lived off of Bruce's credit card for months, until she finally gave birth, and let me tell you." He looked like he was about to throw up, "Going through child birth… alone… damn."

"I do _not _want to know this."

"Anyways, the only thing that pulled her out of that slump was realizing that she was really a mother now. And when she lost Justin… I've never heard a scream that inhuman, in all of my life." Now he looked like he was about to cry. "And to think that I…" he took a deep breath, "Look, my point is, she went through all of that, and she _still _loved you enough, to actually _consider _getting back together with you."

"Would you just please, get to the point?" I groaned.

Jay smirked at me, "I think you already understand what I'm trying to tell you."

I sighed, "Yeah, I do. If you'll excuse me, I have an entire evening to re-plan."

**LATER THAT NIGHT, WITH JASON:**

After dinner at that Mexican Restaurant Kim loved, I look her to the top of Wayne Manor. We sat down on the roof, my arms wrapped around her, cradling her into my chest. "Do you remember the night I told you I loved you?"

She looked up at me, "Yeah, we were… right down there, weren't we?"

I looked at the ground in front of the Manor's front door, "Yeah."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, before I finally broke it, "Kim… I don't remember much about my real father. I don't remember _anything _about him actually, so he was never around to give me the love talk."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, "But, I remember, this one time, I caught Bruce with Selina, and of course Alfred gives me the birds and the bees talk, but afterwards… Bruce said something to me that I just, I was never able to forget."

I leaned away from Kim, standing up on the roof, grabbing her shoulders so she stood up with me, and looking into her eyes, "I have been running all over town today, talking to your parents, talking to Bruce, and going to a jewelry shop, FYI, I never want to go to one again, all because of what Bruce said to me."

Kim stared at me, "W-what did he say to you?"

I took a deep breath, reached into my jacket pocket, and pulled out a ring I had recently bought. "He said, if you're ever with a woman that's to good for you, you need to marry her right away, before she realizes that she could do so much better."

Kim's eyes got wider, and she covered her mouth with her hands as I got down on one knee, "Kimberly Ann Mathilda, will you make the biggest mistake of your life, and marry me?"

Her tears spilled over, and she dropped to the ground, wrapping her arms around my neck, "Yes! Yes, Jason, a thousand times, yes!"

I couldn't help it, my own eyes got watery as I slid the ring onto her shaking finger, and then kissed her. I swear, I have never experienced a kiss so filled with love until I had that kiss.

* * *

**Alright guys, in honor of valentine's day, RedX 17 has posted a short story about the first time Jay and Ann met. Go check it out, it's adorable!**


	16. Vampires Suck

In a dark room, a figure leaned over a desk, a computer and notepad in front of her. Every few minutes her fingers would type away at the keyboard, then she would lean back in her chair, eyes skimming over the screen for several moments, before leaning over the desk again, scribbling away in her notebook.

"Working hard Justin?" Kyler asked, intruding on the dark room. She flipped on a light as she entered, and my eyes flinched shut at the sudden light.

"Ugh, God Kyler, would you turn the lights off?" I mumbled.

She laughed, "You look like one of those geeks with no life, who just sits at his computer desk all night, staring at pictures of naked comic book women."

I glared at her, "Kyler, I am a geek, in the sense that I read comic books, particularly Watchmen, and I do sit a computer all night when I'm not jumping across rooftops, however, I don't stare at pictures of naked women to get off."

She pulled a chair up next to me, "So, pray tell, what are you doing at night, on your computer, on Valentines Day? You have no love life, do you?"

"If I'm sexually starved, Snow and Raph are downstairs making out, I could just switch on the cameras."

"That's disgusting."

"That's comedy."

"That's pathetic and disturbing."

"That's innovative and, in my not so humble opinion, a quite brilliant way to get my emotional urges out before work." I smirked.

She shook her head, "You can dice that up with big words all you want, but all I see in my head is you watching from a window as two people, your friends, make love."

I laughed, "Kyler, if I was sexually starved, I wouldn't watch two people make love."

"I don't want to know what you _would _do."

"I'd watch hot, angry, passionate _sex_. Not _love_. If I did want to lose my virginity, I wouldn't want to make love, I'd just want to have sex."

"Wow… it's usually the other way around."

"Kyler, I'm working, instead of criticizing me about my sex life, why don't you go out and get some yourself?"

She smiled, holding up her cell phone, "I've gotten five calls from guys that go to my school tonight, all hoping to get a late minute date for V-Day date."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't have a date for Valentines Day, that means your love life is going no where." Kyler explained. "And I'm actually a little insulted that they all thought I was free."

"Aren't you?"

"Not the point… and not since Anthony called me."

"Whose Anthony?"

Kyler smiled and bit her lower lip, "This really hot guy on the base ball team at school. He runs track too."

"Cut?"

"Built."

"6?"

"8.5."

"Nice."

"Thanks."

"So, until he called, why were you alone on V-Day?"

She shrugged, "I enjoy my work to much. Can't afford to take time away from it. But it's quiet tonight, so I'm gonna call it quits, and go have fun." She stood up, "Speaking of quitting, you being here, does that mean you're back in the game?"

I nodded, "All in. Gabriel is still leader, and I'll take orders from him."

"I see… what changed your mind about quitting?"

I looked away from my computer, up at her, "I realized that it's not about if I think Black Hood is important. It's about the civilians that think Black Hood is important."

She smiled, and then left for her date.

I looked back at the computer, glaring at the school records. Tripp Bathory. His record was flawless, there were no reports of juvenile behavior, even though it said he lived in Gotham all his life. His parents, the same. No robbery charges, no assault, no nothing. Although according to records, they lived all their lives in Gotham as well. Here's the catcher though, there was absolutely no information on any aunts, uncles, or grandparents.

"No one lives their whole lives in Gotham City, and doesn't get in trouble with the law at least once." I mumbled.

I stared at his parents photos, before realizing that he looked nothing like them. His skin made the moon look tan, but both of these people had a natural tan. His nose ridge was nearly a straight line, and the end of his nose hung downward. His 'father' had a very pronounced nose ridge, and his 'mother' had an upturned nose. Ear shape didn't match, neither did his jaw line.

"Snooping?"

I jumped up form my chair, turning around and pointing a gun at none other than Tripp himself. He was wearing black pants and a long sleeved black shirt, along with black combat boots, and a brown trench coat. His short black hair wasn't spiked, it looked like a cross between bed head, and wind blown. Tousled, I guess, would be a good name for it.

"Tripp Bathory, you're under arrest for forgery." I said, not taking my eyes off of his.

"Don't talk like a cop, you're not. And it makes you sound pathetic. Come one, where's that crazy girl I met in the alley?" He asked, stepping forward.

"Who are you, really?" I asked.

He snorted, "I've lost track off all the names, Black Hood. Or should I say Justin?"

"List a few."

"Tyler, James, William, George, and probably my most famous one, Arnaud Paole. But that was way back in… 1720... No! 1726."

I didn't lower my gun from him, "Are you telling me that you're immortal? Cause I've only met one immortal man, and he wasn't _that _immortal."

Tripp laughed, "Ras Al Ghul isn't immortal, he's just using a bit of my leftover witch craft. I used to fool around with that in my early day, but now? I'm a bit more dedicated."

He lifted up his hand, and I saw shadows peel away from the walls, twisting and turning their way through his fingers like black snakes. He stared at his own display, as if storing every twist and turn of the shadow to memory. "Pretty, isn't it?"

His red gaze shifted to me, and before I could blink the shadow jumped at me, smacking my gun away, and throwing me over my desk. The second I hit the wall I felt all my breath leave my body.

He laughed as I gasped for air, "Amazing isn't it? The slightest thought, and I control darkness itself."

I gasped, sitting up and leaning on the wall, "What are you? Some kind of meta human?"

He shook his head, "Really? I thought a detective would have figured it out by now. Especially with the media going crazy about my kind. Come on, white skin, red eyes, I wear a lot of black. Put two and two together Justin."

"Should I grab garlic?" I snapped. A vampire huh? Well, I've heard of stranger things in my life. A vampire that controls shadows though? It's a new one.

"The garlic trick is a myth sweetheart." He smirked, "So is the whole sunlight thing. I can live in sunlight, however, it's only at night that these come out."

He opened his mouth in a teeth filled grin, revealing pointed canines. He shrugged out of his trench coat, and from underneath, wings unfolded. Huge black and red wings, with an over all wingspan of about three to four feet. On the side of his neck, I could make out two angry red dots, a bite.

He grinned down at me, using his wings to fly up a bit, and land in a perch on top of my desk. "Got to admit, you girls have come a long way these last hundred years. Used to be I'd have to search around for a hundred years or so to find a girl crazy enough for me. First few were just Satanists who wanted to get laid by the son of the devil. The first noticeable one though, it was Countess Elizabeth Bathory. Next one was Anne Bonny. _There _was a woman who could use a blade. Oh, and the most recent one, would have to be Aileen Wuornos."

I stared up at him, one eyebrow raised, unbelief on my face. "Anne Bonny was one of the most terrified pirates ever to have lived, and Aileen Wuornos is a serial killer, who shot seven men, she was sentenced to death, and died of lethal injection in 2002."

Tripp shrugged, "We all have issues. I'm a sucker for strong women, unfortunately, way back then, strong and mentally insane tended to go hand in hand. I noticed you didn't mention Elizabeth Bathory."

"I don't know that one." I grunted, standing up, "If she was really a Countess, then she probably lived a long time ago."

He smirked, "She is possibly the most prolific female serial killer in history and is remembered as the 'Blood Countess' and as the 'Bloody Lady of Čachtice' after the castle near Trenčín. She was a witch, most famous for her violent nature, and psychopathic tendencies. She was responsible for the murder of hundreds of her own servants, and used the blood of virgins to bathe in, hoping it would restore her youth. She really liked torture, and she was a fast learner too. She liked walking on the wild side. She would beat her servant girls to death with clubs, stab them, spear them, oh, and her favorite torture device, it was called the Iron Maiden. This clockwork doll was of the size and color of a human creature. Naked, painted, covered in jewels, with blond hair that reached down to the ground, it had a mechanical device that allowed it to curve its lips into a smile, and to move its eyes. For the Maiden to spring into action it was necessary to touch some of the precious stones in its necklace. Elizabeth would instruct a servant girl to fix the jewels on the Iron Maiden, and when a certain jewel was moved, the Maiden would grab the girl, spikes would come out of the breasts, and the girl would quickly bleed to death. Once the sacrifice is over another stone in the necklace is touched: the arms drop, the smile and the eyes fall shut, and the murderess becomes once again the Maiden, motionless in its coffin. Eventually, she just got plain crazy, and began attacking her bound victims with her teeth, biting chunks of bloody flesh from their necks, cheeks and shoulders. Blood became more of an obsession with Elizabeth as she continued her tortures with razors, torches, and her own custom made silver pinchers." **AN: (Read More: **** Elizabeth_Bathory_alias_the_Blood_ #ixzz2LUsEaZfE**** This woman is really interesting, and I was actually appalled at the thought of someone doing all these things… it's quite disturbing. I'm warning you, reading all that is going to make you have some messed up dreams!)**

That was disgusting.

I grew up in the League of Assassins, and I've never met someone as bad as… no, that's a lie. I have. The attacking with their teeth thing though? No, that would be a first. It sounds bad ass, but in this day an age I'd be to worried about getting some kind of disease.

Tripp cocked his head to the side, staring at me, "So Justin, what are you doing for Valentines Day?"

"That depends, does the wooden stake to the heart trick work on you?"

"Well, that would kill anybody, wouldn't it?" He said, rolling his eyes, "But to answer your question, no. I can't tell you how many times people have tried to kill me. Wooden stake, garlic, holy water, burned at the stake, etc. Humans are usually stupid. Yes, a wooden stake can kill me, but not just any wooden stake."

"What kind?" I asked, not skipping a beat.

He laughed, and his wings gave three powerful strokes, lifting him off the desk and right in front of me. "I'm not gonna tell you. You'd kill me, claiming I told women to commit mass murder."

"You did!" I snapped, raising my fist to punch him, but he grabbed it.

"Not so fast Justin, I didn't. I knew what they were doing, I have a nose for psychopaths. So I just hung around them for awhile, nailed 'em, and left." His hand clenched around mine, and his thumb slowly stroked the top of my fist, tracing patterns I couldn't see. "Crazy is, well, a turn on. Crazy, anger, murder, all of them are just so… hot."

"You're sick!" I twisted out of his grip, drove my knee into his stomach, punched him in the solar plexus, and then shoved him backward, hoping to make him fall, but his wings just beat, letting him hover a moment, before body tackling me onto my desk.

I grunted as my back hit it, and he smirked down at me, "You're sick too."

"At least I don't sleep with serial killers!"

He let go of me, backing up to the window. "Fair enough, I'll leave, for now. But let me just say… you're pretty damn hot."

He leapt out the window, and he probably just flew away, but part of me wished that the ground just suddenly swooped up and swatted him like a fly.

I just fought a vampire… I'm either delusional, or a total bad ass. I stared at the window awhile, before picking my gun up, shutting my computer, and going home. I needed a shower, about an hour of sleep… oh, and food cooked by Alfred. That was the most important need.

**I BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THAT!**


	17. You Wake Up Late For School

"_Justine, may I remind you that you're under oath?"_

"_I heard you loud and clear Mr. Monkey Suit." I said casually, looking around the courtroom at the various jurors and lawyers. In the audience, sat my family. My mother's eyes were wide with fear, my father had an arm around her shoulders, his eyes boring into mine. Tim and Bruce sat stone faced, unwavering. Jay offered me a small smile and a thumbs up. Ann gave me a small nod. Damian glared at me in a way that I knew meant if I messed anything up, he would punch me in the face. Hard._

"_Then tell me, Justine Todd-"_

"_Justin Todd."_

"_This is a professional court, and we'll use your professional name." The man was a federal prosecutor, and from what I've heard, the best in the business._

_Kenya wasn't here, neither was Alfred. My grandparents both sat closer to the front, worry on both of their faces. Dick wasn't here either. Must be in Bludhaven._

"_I don't answer to my slave name." Justine was who I had been in the League of Assassins. Justin is who I am here, as Black Hood, as a Todd._

_He fixed me in his gaze, "Well then, tell me, these DNA results, they tell us all you were in Russia, personally involved in sex rings, drug trafficking, and serial murders. Correct?"_

_I glimpsed around the court room once more, before turning back to the lawyer. "Yes."_

"_So, you were personally involved with them?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And what you did there was highly illegal?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Your DNA was also found in several area around Gotham, linked to Drug rings, human trafficking, and mass murder. Correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And on a scrap of leather, that we know was a jacket belonging to the vigilante known as Black Hood, your DNA was also found. Correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_So, Justin Todd, why was your DNA on the jacket of a wanted criminal?"_

_I stared out into the faces of the crowd, before turning back to the lawyer, breaking out into a shit-eating grin. "I'm Black Hood."_

"Ah!" I jerked up, looking wildly around my room. Rango, sleeping at the foot of my bed, jerked his head up also, looking at me.

Seeing no immediate danger, I laid back down, panting. Rango was used to this by now, he knew on some level I wasn't quite right. Rango inched up the bed until his head was level with mine, sniffed my face, and them gave my cheek a quick lick.

Then he put his head on top of my stomach, trying to go back to sleep. I ran my fingers through his blue fur, "Sorry buddy, didn't mean to wake you up."

Spilling the Bat family's biggest secret? That was one of my biggest fears. Not my biggest, but it definitely made the top ten, possibly top five.

Kenya opened my door, standing there in her pink footie pajamas, holding Jabberwocky. "Hey Justy!"

"Hello annoying blonde child that lives in my house for some unknown reason."

She giggled, scampering up onto the bed with me, "I heard you scream!"

"Did you now?" I sighed. If Kenya heard other people probably did too.

"Yeah, I thought there was a ninja in here." She held up something in her hand, a pocket knife, "So I came to save you!"

I laughed, and Rango sat up, realizing he wasn't going to get any sleep, and licked Kenya's face. She giggled, putting her knife away. "Hey Kenya?"

"Huh?"

"Where'd you hide that knife?"

"In one of Jabberwocky's ears."

"Good girl." I praised, sitting up in bed, trying to smooth my hair down. "Now how about you leave so your big sister can get ready?"

"Otay!" She scurried off, and I yawned, stood up, and looked down at what I was wearing. Reds plaid boxers, nothing underneath. And a white wife beater with a red sports bra underneath. I stretched, walking into my bathroom.

I grabbed a shower, came out, dried off my hair, and gelled it into a mohawk. Bruce hates it, so I love it. I fiddled with my piercings in the mirror, two snakebite hoops. When Bruce saw them he nearly had a heart attack. He tried to say that they would give away my identity, but I pointed out that my Black Hood helmet covered my entire face, unlike his cowl.

I'm pretty sure if I got a tattoo, I'd make his brain implode. Jay thought I had a tattoo, but it was only a temporary tattoo. It went away last week.

As I massaged the gel in I started to sing quietly, "Go away, give me a chance to miss you. Say goodbye, it'll make me wanna kiss you."

"I love you so much more when you're not here, Watching all the bad shows, drinking all of my beer. I don't believe that Adam and Eve spent every god damn day together. " I hummed. "If you give me some room, there will be room enough for two."

"Tonight! Leave me alone I'm lonely. I'm tired. Leave me alone I'm lonely tonight." I walked back into my room, pulling a black t-shirt over my head, I pulled on a pair of jeans, and poked my head out of my door, looking both ways to make sure no one was within ear shot.

I jumped up on my bed, "I don't wanna wake up with another, but I don't wanna always wake up with you either No you can't hop into my shower. All I ask for is one freakin' hour. You taste so sweet, but I can't eat the same thing every day. Cuttin off the phone, leave me the hell alone! Tomorrow I'll be begging you to come home!"

"Bravo!"

I whirled around, trapping my ankles in the blankets, and falling face first to the floor. I groaned, and looked up to see Ann leaning on my doorpost. Her long red hair had been pulled into a loose pony tail, and all she was wearing was blue jeans, sneakers, a green shirt, and a jean jacket, but for some reason she looked like a beauty queen.

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that Ann only needed fifteen minutes, and she could look like she was going on a date. Apparently that was my mother's natural beauty, that wasn't passed down to me. Well, maybe it was, but I managed to over ride it with my clothes, hair, and lip rings.

"You're already late for school kiddo." She said, "And Tim just left with Damian and Kenya in the SUV."

"Which one?"

"… There's more than one?"

"You've got a lot to learn sweetheart." I grunted, untangling my legs and standing up, "Well, might as well skip. Kinda sucks, I actually wanted to go to school today."

"Why?" She asked, a mischievous glint in her eye, "A cute boy you wanna see?"

"Haha, no. It's dodge ball in PE today, and I was looking forward to creating a massacre. I'm going to especially miss hitting the fat kids with balls! BAM! Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. SPLAT! Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle. POW! Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle."

She groaned, "Justin, one day, every ethnic group you've made fun of, gay, obese, Blacks, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese-"

"What's the difference between those last two?"

"They will all _murder _you!"

I stared at her, "They can try, but none of the gay guys will want to get blood on themselves, the fatties won't be able to run after me, the blackies will be to scared to go to jail, the Mexicans are to afraid to get sent back across the boarder, Chinese are to busy screaming at each other behind the counters, and the Japanese… well, they're really good at being inhumane, I'll give them that, but when it comes to Americans the only word that pops up is BOMB! I'll just have to wave a grenade in their face to make 'em run away."

She rolled her eyes, "So, you're skipping school, huh? Where are you headed to then?"

"Probably Grandma and Grandpa's shop. I think Grandpa got a new shipment in. Wanna tag along?" I offered, scooping up my backpack.

Her gaze shifted to the floor, "It would be… confusing seeing them. To me, they're my parents. I remember everything about them, everything we used to do, to say. They wouldn't look at me as their daughter though. I'd just be… some girl. They don't love me."

"Suit yourself." I said, walking past her. "I'm going."

Before I hit the door, my phone lit up. I looked at the ID, Jonathan Brooks. I'll be damned.

I answered it, "Never thought you would call me again."

"Trust me, if it were up to me, I wouldn't."

I smirked, heading down to the Bat cave, "And what, pray tell, has got you so puzzled you'd come to a vigilante for help? Hmm?"

"… I'm trying to track down a fugitive."

"Ah, hunting are we? Less investigation and deskwork, more physical action. Not really your pot of tea." I observed, opening the clock and walking through it. I personally thought it was cliché, but whatever. "And the last time we worked together, you told me to get lost, remember?"

"And if I recall, Aaron Hackle was found dead months ago after a unanimous tip lead us to his warehouse, and guided us through a mess of death traps."

"Really?" I said sarcastically, "I wouldn't know anything about that."

"Are you gonna help or not?"

I pinned the cell phone to my ear with my shoulder, grabbing my costume, "Wouldn't miss it, I'll be at your office in twenty minutes."

**LATER:**

I stood on top of GCPD, staring at Commissioner Gordon and Jonathan. Gordon spoke first, "I don't believe we've met before, but I'm told you work with the bat."

I nodded, "Yeah, but I'm more of a free lancer."

Gordon glared through his ridiculous glasses at me, "I know. I've seen your handy work all over town. It's not hard to pick up the pattern when you carve their sins into their chests."

I shrugged, "Well, you don't have to scratch your head wondering what they did, do you?"

"I only work with Batman because he doesn't kill."

"You're a cop, you carry a gun, are you honestly going to tell me you haven't killed someone on the job before?"

Gordon chuckled a little, "Alright, let me make this clear. If I find out you've killed one innocent person in my town, I will arrest you. You'll be put in a two room cell that's three feet wide, and eight feet long. There'll be five stories of the same cells above you, and you will never see the light of day again. All you'll feel is the crushing darkness of thousands of people as dark and guilty as you."

"If I ever spill innocent blood, I'll turn myself in."

"Good." Gordon said, and handed me a file. "Then look through this, and tell me what you can see that we can't."

I pulled out a picture of the fugitive, a woman, a beautiful blonde headed girl. I scrolled through several photos, some of her, but I stopped at a picture of her cell. There were three pictures pasted on her wall. Every single one of them were of pyramids.

"She was dying." I pointed out.

Jon sighed, "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"The pyramids. People who have terminal diseases, or are suddenly faced with their mortality turn to the pyramids as a form of inspiration. They've lasted thousands of years." I explained. "Now, how did she get out?"

"We aren't sure yet." Gordon admitted.

I looked over her file again, "So, she worked on license plates?"

"It says it all right there."

I looked over the time tables, a truck left the prison around the same time her shift would have been over. "She escaped by climbing under the truck, and holding on for dear life."

"Nah, the prison uses special sensors to make sure the only thing under there is metal." Jon explained.

"Her record shows that her license plate machine had a defect plate every few days, right? What happens to the plate after she claimed it had a defect?"

"They just get thrown away."

"Are you sure that she threw away every single plate?"

Jon shifted his feet a little, "She wasn't monitored, so there's no way to be sure."

"Then she took the license plates, strapped them together in a mat, and covered herself with it so that the sensors wouldn't pick her up." I said, "And these pen pals she had, a bunch of boyfriends? At least one of them knows where she is."

"We've got three of them right now, one of them is being very stubborn about it." Gordon admitted.

"Yep, that's the one you're looking for. Give me five minutes, he'll be singing like a bird."

Jon rubbed his temple, "How are we gonna get her into the interrogation room?"

Gordon smirked, "Son, we don't. We bring him up here."

Gordon and Jon brought the guy up, and I took out my gun. I stood in front of the guy so her saw me clearly, and cocked the gun, "You gonna tell me where your mistress is?"

He took a hesitant, shallow breath. "You can't shoot me, not in front of cops."

"You don't think I'll shoot a spineless excuse of a man that disgusts me, in front of a middle-aged man, and a young gun, neither of which can outrun me on these roof tops and take me in?" I asked sarcastically, "Yeah, you might wanna run those numbers again."

He looked a little uncertain now. I've got him on the ropes, now I just have to give him a little more of a scare. "He's not the only one who knows, "Bring out one more guy."

Jon left, and brought back another one of the men, and I held up two guns, pointing one at each of their foreheads. "Alright, here's the rules you two, first one of you to talk gets to live. You've both got until the count of five."

"You… you wouldn't!" The second one said, baffled.

"One."

"I'm a United States citizen, and I demand to be let go!" The first one protested.

"Two."

"You can't get me to play chicken with you!"

"Three."

"Wait, wait!"

"Four."

"Please, I've got two little boys at home-"

"Five!" I shouted, and fired two shots, but purposely missed.

The second man screamed like a little girls, but the original one shouted, "Florida! Marion Oaks Florida!"

I smirked at Jon, "And that, young gun, is how you use blanks to get pitiful people to spill."

Jon gave a light chuckle, "I don't really approve of your methods, but they get the job done."

"Of course they do." I said.

When Jon turned to Gordon to talk about moving the men into holding, I quickly slipped away. As I jogged off undetected, I swear I heard Jon say "Hey, where'd she go?"

"Better get used to it son, they all do that."

As I dropped down a few roof over, I felt something move behind me, so I whipped around and pointed my gun, right at Tripp.

His smirk showed his fangs, his bite mark was visible, and his wings outstretched. "Hey there firecracker."

"What do you want?" I groaned, putting my gun away.

"Just some company." Tripp explained, "And by the way, I loved our Valentines Day date, wanna follow it up?"

"I want you to leave me alone." I said, turning and walking away. "I have work to do."

He followed me out of the alley, staying right behind me. "Well, that sounds like a second date offer to me."

"No, that's a get lost offer."

He stepped in front of me, smirking, "Alright, listen up babe, there's chemistry here, and you know it. So how about getting down off of your 'daddies little girl' stool, and just taking what you want?"

I crossed my arms, "And what do you think I want?"

He leaned back casually, "A thrill."

"I get enough thrill from my job, thanks." I stepped around him, and started to walk again. He kept following me.

"Don't be so quick to decline babe-"

"Stop calling me that."

"Babe?"

"That's a name you give a bleach blonde tramp. Stop calling me that."

He chuckled, "Alright, back to firecracker."

"Daylight is in a few hours, you won't be able to fly away form me then." I snarled, "And that'll make it easier to kill you."

He shrugged, "Yeah, and in daylight, my shadow manipulation doesn't work. Neither does my enhanced strength, or my speed. I'm basically a regular human then."

"… are you trying to convince me how easy it would be to kill you?"

"Just stating fact my little firecracker."

I froze at that, and immediately shoved the barrel of my gun into his face, "You better start back pedaling on that, _now_."

He didn't even look fazed. He just stuck his hands into his pockets, raising an eyebrow, "On what?"

"You said I was yours. I'm not yours. I don't be long to anyone, especially not you." I spat out.

He smirked, "Not yet."

"Never again!" I pulled the trigger.

He fell backwards, grabbing his face, "Agh! Ouch, ah! You just… you shot me in the face!"

"Yep."

He looked up at me, "Bullets might not be able to go through my skin at night, but the force still takes me back, okay!? So no more shooting me!"

"I'll shoot you all I want." I snapped, crossing my arms at him, "No one owns me, and I'll happily shoot you until you get it through your temporarily unbreakable skull. Understood?"

He stood up again, rubbing his face, "Yeah, I understand, Jesus, that really hurt!"

I groaned, turning to walk away, "The wrong people get to be immortal."

He followed me, _again_. "Alright, tell you what, here's my final offer."

"Not interested."

"I get to take you on one date, where ever I want, for however long I want. Once the date is over, and I take you home, you decide if it's something you'd like the repeat. If you don't want to, I'll leave Gotham, and find some other sociopath to butt-heads with. But, if I wowed you, knocked you off your feat, made you wanna have a second round, then guess what, I'll know." He leaned down close to my face, "And you won't be able to lie about it. So if you liked it, I get to stay and keep dating you."

"… I'm amused at how you assume that I would ever enjoy your company, and even more amused you think that I'd ever date you." I turned to walk but he grabbed My elbow.

"Should I take that as a yes?"

I groaned, "You know what, yes! Fine, tell you what, you sweep me off my feet, and have me so smitten with romantic temptations, have every instinct in my body screaming at me to accept you, and I'll go out with you."

Tripp grinned, letting me go, "Alright then, hold on tight."

"What-"

He grabbed me, and suddenly we were flying. "Put me down!"

"Nope, you said I get one shot, so here I go."

* * *

**Alright, I have updated versions of all the Desperate Revenge characters (except Tripp, haven't found one for him yet) pictures on my Deviant art page, which has a link on my profile.**


	18. Man You Don't Wanna Go

He dropped me down on a rooftop, and pointed across the street where a dance class was going on, "You hear that?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Music?"

He nodded, "Salsa."

He suddenly grabbed me again, pulling me into a dance position, "You know how?"

Oh hell no.

He moved with me, pushing me back, trying to control my arms, arm around my waste, moving fast and making me move with him. He dipped me, twirled me, smirking. "You really suck at dancing. I'm doing all the work here."

I let him man handle me for a few more minutes, before putting my foot behind his and throwing him over my shoulder. He hit the ground hard, landing on his wings in a painful way. "Ow! What the-"

"I hate dancing." I snapped.

He stared at me, "But… you hate all dancing?"

"Not all dancing." I said, "But ballroom dancing? Hate it."

He stood up, brushing himself off, "What kind do you like?"

"Street dancing." I said, "When you see people who are really good at it, they're flipping off of walls, and over cars, it looks kind of like… fighting almost."

He tilted his head to the side, staring at me again. "You have a one track mind, don't you? It's always about fighting."

I groaned, turning away from him and walking away, "No! That's not always who I am."

He stepped in front of me again, and I was really beginning to get annoyed by that. Maybe I should break his feet off so he can't. He slipped his thumb under my chin, getting uncomfortably close to my lips "Then show me who you really are."

His eyes closed and his lips puckered. No!

I pulled my gun out again and shot him in the face. He fell to the ground again. "Ah! What is _wrong _with you!? I just wanted to _kiss_!"

"And I didn't want to." I countered, and continued to walk.

He groaned, sitting up and holding his face, "You are completely insane!"

He grabbed my ankle and yanked me down, then pinned me to the roof. "And I love it."

I glared up at him, and then put the barrel of the gun under his chin, "I'm gonna count to three."

"Oh, like those guys on the GCPD roof? Yeah, I'm not-"

"Three." I pulled the trigger, and he went _flying_. He flipped over me, sprawling on the roof top. "Now leave me alone."

I stood up to walk away, but he suddenly grabbed me, throwing me to the ground again.

"You wanna fight?" He spat, "Then let's fight!"

I kicked his knee, and he got too balance, so I used the spare second to jump up and then deliver a haymaker to his jaw. He leaned away from it, and then grabbed my ankle.

He lifted me above his head, smirking, "Sorry firecracker, our date isn't over just yet. We had a deal remember?"

He set me down gently, and smirked, "So, close your eyes."

I did, and almost instantly he said, "Now open them."

I opened them, and my eyes widened. We were in a huge mosh pit! The music was deafening, and I knew the ban playing immediately.

"HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD!?" I shouted above the music, "HOW DID YOU GET US HERE SO FAST?"

He just smirked, and pulled me into the mosh pit as the band got louder.

_This is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my town_

I had never been in a real mosh pit before. I thought it would be something like constantly bumping into people, getting bruised and not at all pleasant.

_Yo, flood the scene, hit the stripGet my fix, got some sniffles in a sackRun this town like a sprinter on a trackCome on, lay back, to attack, in the 'LacWe ain't cutting no slackGirl, what you know about thatI ain't trying to be a lover, but I gotta sayThat we can keep it under cover when wanna playBlazed up, smoked out, out of my mindWe just cruise around my town all of the time_

But it was completely different. Adrenaline pumped through my veins like never before, no amount of fighting and bloodshed ever made me have this kind of head throbbing high. Yeah, I bumped into people, but it wasn't as harsh as I thought it would be. With my head pumping this much, the blows felt like gentle brushes.

_When the sun goes downThe stars come out, like the ghosts of yesterdaySo drink 'em down, cause some things never changeBaby sing get loud, we ain't gonna screw aroundWhen the sun goes down, let me hear you say...This is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my town_

And I could see Tripp, within eyesight the entire time. He moved through the pit totally different. He was never hit, he weaved in and out of the bodies, never once touching them. He was fast, incredibly fast. Superhuman almost. Maybe that's a vampire quality.

What I really wanted to know was why no one noticed he had wings. He had them folded down, but they were still _very _noticeable.

With _this _kind of music playing, I guess no one really cared.

_If the city never sleeps, then screw it, neither will IYou know we keep it thirty deep and we're as high as the skyYou can watch us thirty creep as we just ride and we rideYou can watch the fiesta drop from one side to sideWe're breaking the boulevard, cause we get it betterIf ever you need to find me, girl, you can send me a letterFor ever drunk and disorderly off this vodka I'm pouring meGod, man, I want it all, my city of glory_

Tripp was suddenly in front of me, hands one hand on my hips, the other slung over my neck, moving with me. He guided my movements, ducked with me under bodies, jumped with me past others. I had never moved with efficiency like this, never been this fast, or dodged like this before. I usually just took a few hits then unleashed hell with a few haymakers.

_When the sun goes downThe stars come out, like the ghosts of yesterdaySo drink 'em down, cause some things never changeBaby sing get loud, we ain't gonna fuck aroundWhen the sun goes down, let me hear you say...This is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my townIt's my townIt's my townIt's my townThis is my town_

Tripp smirked down at me, leaning in to whisper into my ear, "Having fun?"

Damn him. I was, and I hated that I was. I'm Justin Todd, I don't fall for boys, I don't have crushes and I most certainly never fall in love.

Okay, so maybe he's making me enjoy myself tonight, but that doesn't mean I'm crushing on him, or falling for him, and it certainly doesn't mean I'm falling in love with him. In his dreams, no boy can keep up with me.

His grip suddenly tightened on me, "I hope you aren't afraid of heights, firecracker."

He expanded his wings, and with a few powerful strokes we were in the air above the pit. He held me closer, his chin on top of my head. Fearing he would drop me as a joke, I wrapped my arms around his chest. Huh, for an incredibly old guy, he's surprisingly buff.

_The streets you walk give you a reasonCause it's all you got and that will never changeSo keep singing that song and we can live foreverPour a little out for the ones who passed away_

He took his chin off of my head, smirking down at me with those fangs. "Are you trying to sneak a feel?"

I glared up at him, "I live with some of the most physically fit people on the planet. Your figure doesn't impress me."

His smile dropped.

"And honestly, compared to my grandfather's build, you're kind of a wimp."

How much can I insult his macho pride tonight?

His smirk returned, the moonlight and stage lights reflecting off his fangs in a hypnotic way. "Can your grandfather so this?"

His wings stopped beating, and we fell. I tried to reach for my grappling line, but he grabbed me wrists as we fell, trapping me.

I screwed my eyes shut, but I never felt any pain of falling. I opened my eyes, and saw that we were somewhere else entirely. An abandoned amusement park.

"Ya know, I personally don't mind getting grabbed by beautiful women, but if you don't let go, I have no idea how I'm going to treat you to dinner."

I immediately let go of him, crossing my arms and glaring at him. He led me into an abandoned dart throwing stall, and gestured to the ground. There were a couple bags of fast food, two paper plates, and two sodas."... You eat human food?" I asked, seeing how there was two of everything."Yeah," he said, unwrapping one bag and taking out KFC chicken. "It's kind of like, I have to drink blood every now and then, just to keep myself alive and strong."I sat down too, and opened up a bag filled with McDonalds french-fries."But my body digest human food just fine too. It's not like those ridiculous Twilight movies where human food tastes like dirt to me." He explained, sinking his fangs into a chicken leg. "It's actually really good. Consider this, what would happen to a human if they didn't drink water, of any form, for a few weeks?""They could get dehydrated, a little sick, or even die." I answered, munching on a few fries."Ah, but what happens if they only drink water?""They'll last longer than the last scenario, but eventually with no other nutrients, they'd die."He nodded, "Blood is my water, human food is my... everything else."

I rolled my eyes, "What an intelligent terminology."

He smirked up at me, and in a quick movement, tackled me. He ended up in my guard, but he had my wrists, pinning them to the concrete ground. He leaned over me, baring his fangs, "You're one to talk about being intelligent. You decided to go on a date with Satan's son."

I raised an eyebrow casually, "Wait, you're literally the anti-Christ?"

He shook his head, the smirk still plastered to his face, "No. That would be my older brother."

He leaned down closer to me, and bared his fangs, a his escaping form his mouth, "Do you know the restraint it takes for me to walk among normal people, and not bite into the first neck I come into contact with?"

His fangs got closer to my neck. "Incredible restraint. If I were to bite you right now, and not drain you dry, you would turn into a vampire. How does trailing around with me for eternity sound?"

I knew he was just doing this to rattle me, he wasn't going to turn me into a vampire. I'm an excellent judge of character, and this guy just likes messing with people. All this flirting with me? Just to amuse himself. "I think if you do, I'll spend eternity trying to kill you. And once I succeed, I'll probably take over the world out of boredom, or something."

He laughed, getting off of me, "Well, you certainly are a strange one, aren't you?"

He held out his hand to help me up, but I ignored it, standing up myself. "Now, before I take you home, it's custom for a guy to win a prize for his date here, right?"

He got behind the booth, pulling out a box of darts. He took aim at one of the rotting targets on the wall, and threw three darts at the same time. They all embedded themselves into the very center of the target, and he chucked. "I think that earns me a big one, doesn't it?"

He stuck his hands into the mass of forgotten stuffed animals, before pulling out a stuffed unicorn, "How about this one?"

"Maybe for target practice."

"Not much of a girly girl?"

"If only you knew."

He chuckled, and then looked threw them again, "Huh a lot of care bears here. Oh, found a cool one!"

He pulled out a stuffed timber wolf, holding it up for me to see. "How bout the wolf?"

I couldn't help the small grin that creeped over my face. "Yeah, I like it."

He handed it to me, and I smiled down at the tiny little toy. "Wolves remind me of Russia."

He raised an eyebrow, "You've been to Russia?"

"I was raised there. Not in a very good way, but it's still kind of home to me. I miss it some times, the land, but not the people there." I felt the grin slip away slowly, "I remember I could always hear wolves howling from outside my room window. I liked to think that they were crying with me, that they cared I was hurting so bad."

My eyes widened when I realized just how much I had said. "Err… can you forget I ever said that?"

He smirked, "Well, the firecracker has a soft side?"

"I'll still shoot you."

He chuckled, "Close your eyes, I'll get you home."

I closed my eyes, and then I heard him say, "Alright, open up."

I opened my eyes, and found we were in front of Wayne Manor. Oh no, if my dad saw him… maybe he'd leave me alone. Come on, someone look at the camera nad run down here to scare away this guy!

Tripp backed away from me, "So, here's the question, did you enjoy yourself?"

"No."

He laughed, "You're lying, I can hear your heart beat. Since you liked it so much, be ready for out next date. It'll happen when you least expect it to."

And with that, he was gone.

The door suddenly flung open, Damian standing there, "Todd! Why the hell are you standing out here, gaping at empty air!? Pennyworth has postponed dinner because you weren't home, and your father has been trying to contact you from your com link for hours!"

My hand flew to my ear, and I pulled out the piece of metal. It was switched off. But… I never switched off my- Tripp. Damn him.

"Yeah, tell Alfred that I already ate. I'm gonna go to bed, alright little buddy?"

He stared at me as I walked past him, "Little… buddy? Todd, are you drunk?"

"No!"

"Father! Todd as returned home drunk!"

"Shut up you little insect!"

"Why are you holding a stuffed toy!? Did you steal it from a toddler in a drunken rage!?"

"I am not drunk!"

Jay walked into the room, "Hey there Justin, guess what you're parents did for Valentines day?"

I clamped my hands over my ears, "The reason I spent the night away from the mansion was so I wouldn't know!"

He laughed, "No you adorable little pervert, your parents are gonna get married!"

I stared at Jay for a long time, and then pushed past a screaming demon child to get to my room. Great, really, that's just great. But I'm not wearing a dress! No matter what! I'll wear a tux, and that is _it_!

* * *

**Pictures for all my characters on my Deviant Art Gallery, the link is on my profile.**


	19. Kissing With Fangs

I laid down on the couch in one of the living rooms, Kenya sitting cross legged on the floor, watching Lady and the Tramp. I was holding the stuffed wolf in my hands, staring at it, as if it would give me the answer to the question of what would get the Vamp to leave me alone.

Jay suddenly popped up behind me, "Hey there rock star, you going to the charity ball tonight?"

"No." I snapped.

"Yes!" Dad snapped, storming into the room and angrily sitting down in a chair, a six pack in his hands. He tore one off of the pack, opening it and started chugging. "If I have to suffer, so do you!"

"Why do you have to go?" I asked, sitting up. Jay plopped down next to me.

Dad glared at me, and he was suddenly talking in Bruce's Batman voice, "Because revealing this to the paparazzi will help better disguise our true personas."

"Damn you Bruce."

"Damn him to hell!" Dad agreed.

"I'm trying to watch TV!" Kenya snapped. "Shh!"

I looked at the TV, and saw some dog singing.

_He's a trampHe's a scoundrelHe's a rounderHe's a cad _

I stared down at the little wolf, the song making me think about Tripp.

_He's a trampBut I love him-_

I jumped up off the couch, pointing a finger accusingly at the television, "NO I DON'T! I AM NOT IN LOVE YOU STUPID-"

…

I looked over my shoulder at Jay and Dad. They were both staring at me like I had lobsters growing out of my ears. Lucky for me, Tim walked into the room, "Hey Justin, I need a five letter word for annoying, can you think of one?"

"Tripp." I blurted out without realizing it.

He raised an eyebrow, "Whose Tripp?"

"… Character form a book I'm reading."

"Oh, a new book? Did you finish the Bible yet?"

"… Not yet." That was a _long ass _book!

He shrugged, "Whatever, but names don't count. I'm gonna go find a thesaurus."

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Charity balls were never really my style, but I went mostly because I didn't want to risk running into Tripp on patrol again, and Kyler and Snow were there so I could whine about the impossibly old Vampire.

She stared at me when I finished telling her the story, "… You went on a date… with Satan's son?"

"Yep." I said, gulping down the glass of wine, then grabbing two more off the table.

Snow put a finger on her lower lip, "I don't recall anything about a demonic figure being the son of the devil, and a vampire. I'll consult my scrolls later."

She took a deep breath, "Justin… I'm going to call Mary, and have her pray for your soul."

"Sorry, we're already here."

I turned around to see Michael standing there, with a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries, scarfing a few down. "The church is involved with the charity?"

Michael nodded to Kyler, "Yep, we're holding it for the group homes in Gotham. A small portion of it goes to the church itself of course, mostly to pay for kids like Alyssa, and us three."

Snow raised an eyebrow, "How many other kids are there besides you guys and Alyssa?"

"Eight." He said, popping another strawberry into his mouth. "None of them are looking for our type of employment though. They just want a foster family. We try and find them, but in Gotham, that's hard. I gotta go find Mary, she's pissed at Gabriel for not coming."

"Where's Gabriel?" I asked.

"Training at the church. You know him, always trying to get better." Michael paused, "And uh, this leader thing is kind of taking it's toll on him. You should consider relieving him of it."

I shook my head, "It's his, I gave it up, and I'm not gonna take it from him."

Michael sighed, "Justin… do whatever you think is right. I just don't wanna see Gabriel destroy himself."

He walked away, and Kyler suddenly spoke up, "Whoa, look at _that _guy."

I turned to see what she was talking about., and saw none other than Tripp standing there. He was talking to a girl in a modest green dress. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks. The top few buttons were undone, letting his necklace hand out, a black cross on the end of it. From his left ear dangled another cross, he must have either just gotten it pierced, or it's fake.

The girl was blushing at him as he smirked at her, with those stupid slightly pointed canines and narrowed eyes.

Tripp was here? And so is my family…

**NARRATIVE:**

Justin narrowed her eyes as Tripp shamelessly flirted with the girl, "That's him."

Kyler's eyes widened, "Wait so, that's Tripp?"

"Yep."

"… Wow."

Justin raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Kyler kept staring at Tripp, her eyes shamelessly moving up and down his figure. "You didn't tell me he was so…"

"Say it."

"Drop dead sexy!" Kyler stressed, and her ghetto accent slipped form her mouth, "Girl, how you gonna say no to that!?"

Justin raised an eyebrow at Kyler, "Why am I friends with you?"

Despite her words, she couldn't help but stare down self consciously at her own clothes. Jeans, white t-shirt, black sleeveless jacket. For a moment she wonders why she could never bring herself to wear a dress, or even a skirt. But then she remembers it's because she feels uncomfortable and out of place in them.

Tripp suddenly walks away from the girl in the green dress, walking up right next to Justin, "Hey Justin, didn't expect to see you here. But since you are, wanna dance for awhile? Or is Daddy holding your leash?"

Justin glared at him, a look of fury in her eyes. "Ugh, it's you. Why don't you crawl back to hell Tripp? And leave me to my own personal one."

Tripp just smirked, "Oh come on, just one dance."

"If it get's you to leave me alone, fine." Justin snapped.

Tripp absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair, _Her family is here, huh? This should be fun._

Tripp motioned towards the dance floor, "Great, let's go. Ya know, I knew the artist who composed this song."

Justin follows him out to the dance floor, trying to remember this song. All she can grasp is it was composed by Beethoven. "That doesn't surprise me at all. Now let's just get this over with.

Tripp gently pulled her into a dancing position, gliding across the floor with her. _She's so different from the others. They fell easily, but she's really making me work for it. She's got enough spunk to keep me entertained for years. Just have to do something about her dad._

Jason was staring at the two of them on the dance floor, not seeing why his daughter would ever dance with anyone. Maybe she was just waiting until they were close enough to the desert table to throw him into the cake?

Tripp and Justin continued dancing, and he could automatically tell why she didn't like ballroom. Justin's figure and style was flat footed, a sturdy base and excellent balance for fighting. But once she tried to go for a more graceful toe stepping dance form, she would struggle with keeping her footing, and nearly trip over he own feet.

Well, he could get her to do something she should be better at, right? She might even thank him. After she killed him for it.

Suddenly, Justin felt Tripp's hold on her tighten, and when she looked up to see what was going on, he had his lips pressed up against hers.

Her eyes flew open, barely registering anything but his lips against hers. _What is he doing? Who the hell does his think he is!? He can't just kiss me without asking! I _have _my knife, and it's only a few hours until daylight. My family is standing _right _there, and he- isn't afraid of my dad? That's kind of… no, that's _really _hot._

Tripp closed his eyes, gently moving his lips against Justin's. _I wonder if she's freaking out… Nah, it's Justin. She's probably just plotting my painful death._

Jason stood by Kim, watching with fury as his daughter just stayed still. "She isn't killing him? Why isn't she killing him? Did she forget her knife? Should I through her one, or just kill him myself? … Kim?"

Kim sighed, resting her chin on her knuckles. _Justin, I love you, and I am so happy for you, really. But do you have any idea how long it's going to take to convince your dad to let the boy live?_

Ann smirked up at Jay, "That kid won't last twenty-four hours, will he?"

Jay gave her a look, "Ann, he kissed Justin, _in front _of Jason. He won't last _six_."

Kyler laughed, watching Jason get redder by the second, "Well, there goes fang boy."

Snow watched as well, "Oh no, should we help him!?"

"Haha, nope."

Michael turned to Mary, "Mary, can we stay and watch the blood shed?"

Mary crossed her arms, a conflicted look on her face, "I kind of want to watch, but I really want to get home."

Michael wasn't bothered. "That's okay, Kyler can video it for me."

Tripp finally pulled away from Justin's mouth, smirking, "That should hold me over for awhile."

And just like that, he disappeared.

I looked over my shoulder, seeing my Dad with one hand over his hidden gun. I was in so much trouble.


	20. I have had ENOUGH!

**ALRIGHT! Once again I will combat you people like a lawyer.**

**Listen all my readers, about five friggin people have brought some things to my attention regarding Justin. The main point being, before Jay knocked her down a few pegs, that frankly, she was a total bitch.**

**And they say this… as if I don't know. Let me make this absolutely clear, so there are absolutely NO people that don't understand. I KNOW. I MEANT FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.**

**So many people on Fanfiction make these characters that are just over all good people. Even the ones that aren't Mary Sues, and have a few bad characteristics, are over all, GOOD PEOPLE. And I am ashamed that in Justine's first story, Jason Todd's Daughter, that she was one of them. One of these people assured me, that Justin was charming as a Mary Sue.**

**Can anyone here see the spawn of Jason Todd being… ****_charming_****!?**

**No!**

**When I started writing for Justin, I wanted her to be like her dad. ****_Just _****like her dad. Now, at the time, I was to used to writing for characters who, were actually good people. I wanted to break away from that. I wanted to be different! So I made a character who was an outright jerk! Who said insults like there would be no repercussion. And even if there was repercussion, they would have so much confidence in their own abilities, they would be undeterred, even by the reality that they could die trying to fight that fight.**

**And another thing, you're all saying that when Justin was going through the whole 'Do not kill. Killing is bad' development and then you find out she suddenly turned around and killed someone? You're all saying the same thing, that is was a step backwards for her.**

**It was not.**

**The only way she, as a person, could find out who she was, and what she stood for, whether she had Batman's morals, or her one, was if she tried the no killing rule out. She tried it out. And she saw the scum of the earth, Pedophiles, rapists, serial killers, and pimps be able to just go to jail, serve a couple years, and get out.**

**Now, if you had a choice, either arrest a pedophile, and have him be taken to jail, where he'd stay for about five to ten years, and then get out, maybe even score parole, and then, let me tell you something, he would go right back to sticking his hand down little boy's pants! No pedophile ever stops, they just keep doing it! You could beat them with a frying pan, and they still wouldn't stop. The minute they could, they would go right back to defiling children every chance they had.**

**Or, you could put a bullet in their heads, and end it. Give that kid closure that they could never have if they grow up thinking, "Oh my God, in a few years, he'll be out of jail, and he'll come after me again!" But that kid knows he's dead… that's a different story!**

**And if you're one of those people who think "Look, I know that it's terrible, but they can't help it! They don't need to be killed, they need to get therapy to help stop the urges!" THEN GO KILL YOURSELF, CAUSE YOU'RE PART OF THE PROBLEM!**

**And if you think I'm being harsh with that… then I will apologize for this entire rant on pedophilia. Just get the little kid who got raped, and have that little kid tell me that pedophiles like the one who raped them should be given therapy instead of lethal injection. (or a bullet)**

**So in short, no, that time was not wasted. She found what she believed in.**

**And a lot of you might think, "Well, what gives her the right to make that call of whether someone lives or dies?"**

**Because she's seen what can happen when you don't make that call. ****_That _****is what gives her the right.**

**And for those of you who don't read my Next Generation Avengers story, I will say this, once more: Now, let me make another point clear. Justin WILL eventually change completely and become a disciplined, cool headed, generally reasonable person. She will still talk a little smack every now and then because, come on, it's JUSTIN. But over all her character will be much better. HOWEVER, not for a long time. Why? because I'm writing these fan fictions for FUN. That's why ANYBODY comes onto a Fanfiction website, for FUN. we write all this for FUN. Yes it's also a good way to improve on our writing, but the main point? FUN.**

**So, to all you people who still don't like Justin's character, and how much of a jerk she is… uh… well, that's kind of the point to writing her character. The world is not black and white, there are many grey areas, and I am proud to say that Justin is one of them.**

**And to the several people who have told me, "I totally thought Tripp was going to rape Justin!"**

**(long sigh)**

**Let me make another point clear, right now. Tripp is not evil. He is dark, extremely dark, but he is not evil on that level. I can't really fully explain this to you people without giving away a future plot line, but here's this fun fact: Tripp has fought in almost every single war, since way back in the whole Greek God/Roman God debate. He fought in Vietnam, the American Revolution, and in the Civil War. In every single one, he was on the good side. For example, in the Civil War he fought to free the slaves.**

**So… look, you'll see more about his very interesting character if you just keep reading.**


	21. Daddy Freaks Out

The second I pulled my motorcycle into the Bat cave, Dad was on me, "Who was that boy!? Why didn't you shank him!?"

Mom grabbed his elbow, pulling him away from me, "It's because of what we talked about in the car _Jason_."

Dad rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, right. Like she's actually interested in that scrawny weakling. Now what was really going on? Did he have black mail on you? Did he use mind control? That's a form of rape, and we _can _press charges Justin."

I groaned, "Dad, shut up. Please just shut up."

Dad wrapped me into a hug, "That punk misused you Justin, it wasn't your fault, just because you're a woman doesn't mean-"

"Dad!" I snapped, breaking away from him. "Mom, make him stop!"

Ann spoke before anyone else could, "Oh, trust me Jason, that boy didn't do anything you're little girl didn't _want _him to."

Dad snorted at the absurdity, "Nice joke. Justin, just tell us what really happened."

I took a deep breath, "I've been dating him."

All hell broke loose. Did you ever think, what would happen if I just randomly walked up to my parents and shouted, "I need an abortion!" Can you imagine the uproar that would bring? The questions, the rage, the cliché "What were you thinking!?" questions? Yeah, this was worse.

Dad grabbed my shoulders, and started shaking me, "What!? Dating!? Dating!? You don't date! Not after I put the fear of God into your last one! You said you were done dating! You said you were done!"

"Things change." I managed to get out over the shaking. "And anyways, I like him!"

Dad stopped shaking me, and settled for holding me as tightly against his chest as he possibly could. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

Mom tried to gently pull me away from Dad, but he just held me tighter. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…"

Jay bit his lip, staring at Dad, "I think… I think that Justin broke him."

Mom groaned, "I think we should just wait this out."

"So I'm just supposed to let him keep going python on me?" I asked.

Jay let out a small laugh, "Ya know, it might be uncomfortable for you, but there is a plus side to this."

"What?" I bit out.

He smirked, taking out a camera, "Black mail opportunity."

Before he could take even one picture, a knife embedded itself into the camera lens. Everyone turned to see Damian, smirking, "Oops, did I do that?"

I love having a demon child for a little brother.

It took over ten minutes to finally get Dad to let go. And when he did, the first thing he did was say, "I wanna meet this boy."

I chuckled nervously, "Uh, Dad, he's not exactly a normal teenager. He's uh… a vampire."

Kenya's eyes lit up, "A vampire!? Oh! Justy, are you and him gonna fall in love!? Is he gonna leave you to protect you, and then you fall in love with a werewolf with a bazillion tummy muscles who rides motorcycles with you, but then when your sparkly vampire boyfriend comes back, you break the werewolf's heart, but then when you and your sparkly vampire boyfriend have a baby, he falls in love with her, so everything's okay?"

I turned my glare to Tim and Damian, "Which one of you let her watch those movies?"

Kenya bounced up and down, "Does he have big swooshy hair?"

Tim shrugged, sheepish, "Ann wanted to know what Twilight was, so I just rented the movies, and Kenya watched too."

Ann crossed her arms, grumbling, "That's exactly six hundred and eight minutes of my life I'll never get back."

Dad started shouting, "I don't care if he's a vampire, a werewolf, or a witch! This boy is coming over here for dinner this Wednesday, or I'm tracking him down myself!"

**THE NEXT DAY, AT LUNCH:**

It was Tuesday afternoon, so I didn't really have a lot of time to convince Tripp to accept the 'invitation' and come over for dinner. The minute lunch came around, I sat down next to Tripp, pulled out the lunch Alfred packed me, and then turned to him with a no nonsense look on my face. "You have to meet my father."

He looked up from his notebook, stared at me for a moment, and then cracked a small grin. "Meet your father?"

"Yes."

He laughed, "Justin, you get that I only look like I'm sixteen, right? I am a _full grown _man!" He ripped a page out of his notebook, and scribbled down seven digits onto it. "Here's my number. You tell your dad that _he _can meet _me_."

Tripp stood up to walk away, and I didn't even turn around. I just casually called back to him. "You know my father is one of the top ten most deadly men in the world, has died and then come back to life, and was trained by the daughter of Ras Al Ghul, right?"

About four seconds past by before Tripp casually sat back down again. "Uh… no. No I didn't."

I nodded, "Yeah, and my grandfather is a purple heart decorated Vietnam Veteran, Marine Pilot. And he spent every moment of every day training my mother. She's Army qualified. So, you're gonna meet my family whether you want to or not. But if my dad has to come looking for you, it'll be ugly. Especially if I give him that message"

Tripp gently reached over and took his number back, "So… assassin trained huh?"

"He could kill you with a napkin. And be careful about going to shake his hand, cause he might hit a pressure point that makes your heart combust. The rest of my family are all vigilante's too you know." I said. I knew there was really no such pressure point… on the hand anyways. But I kind of wanted to mess with Tripp.

Tripp let out a long sigh… "What time?"

**WEDNESDAY NIGHT:**

I opened the door to let Grandma and Grandpa in. "Hey guys."

Grandpa messed my hair up while Grandma hugged me. "Been watching you on the news honey. I got this new model in the shop you and yer dad should try out."

Now let me be clear, my Grandpa does _not _like my dad. He _never _liked my dad. Not when he was dating mom, not when he was dead, not when he came back to life, _definitely _not when he knocked up mom, not even when the whole '_he is my father' _thing rolled around. _Never_. It's the whole '_I will never forgive you for taking my little baby away from me!_' deal that all Dad's have. But when he found out two weeks ago that Mom and Dad are getting married, he tried to be a bit more… civil.

They talk at least once ever four days, but it's always about the same thing. Guns and hockey. That is the only two things that they talk about. Mostly because as long as Dad was thinking about guns and hockey, Dad could be sure he wouldn't accidentally blurt out "I'm Kim's baby daddy!" in front of Grandpa, and have the wrath of an army vet on his head.

Now they didn't talk about football because… well my dad is a white guy, and he likes sports that his race is still proficient in.

They started to walk into the main room where Dad was waiting (with a beer in his left hand and a gun in the other) when I stopped Grandpa and said, "Grandpa look, could you talk Dad into not scaring Tripp off? He kind of broke my last date…"

Grandpa laughed, "I brought a gun with me just in case I would have to step up to the plate, but your dad seems to have this covered!"

Boom goes that idea!

The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Uncle Dick. He was completely spazzing out, cause the minute I opened the door he pulled me into a bear hug, "Oh Justy, you're growing up so fast! You like boys now, and they like you too! We have so much to talk about- Oh!" He let me go, and whispered, "Do you need another condom?"

I shook my head, "I've still got that other one you gave me from the talk."

He ruffled my hair (seriously, what is up with people and messing with my hair!?) "Good, your dad won't be trying to find out who gave you a condom then."

I rolled my eyes, "Look, Uncle Dick, when Dad tries to scare Tripp away from me for good tonight-"

"No worries!" He said, giving me a thumbs up, "I won't get involved at all!"

And he walked away.

_Not _what I meant bozo.

I looked to make sure no one was around, and then I stared up at the ceiling, "God, I have not asked for much in my lifetime… but I actually like this guy. So _please_… don't let my dad go Daddy-Bat's on us tonight. And if you can't do that for me… THEN THERE IS NO GOD!"

The door bell rang.

I opened it, and there stood Tripp. Baggy jeans, studded leather belt, and a black muscle t-shirt with words on it, written in blood. Drag me To Hell. Over it, he had that trench coat on, his wings probably folded up underneath it.

Tripp raised an eyebrow at me, "Uh, there is a God."

"What?"

"I heard your screaming through the door. There is a God. Just so you know."

Of course I knew that, I mean, I saw the pearly gates and Saint Peter, standing there with a scroll. I personally would have gone with a clip board. "Uh, right. You're a little early."

Tripp nodded, "Okay, I'll leave."

He turned to walk away and I grabbed his shoulder, "No trying to get out of this, my dad's waiting in the living room, and he's a bit drunk."

Tripp groaned as we walked down the hall, "Justin, I am 8,905 years old. I am to old to be go around meeting my girlfriend's father."

I couldn't help but flinch at that a little, "Uh… girlfriend?"

"Yep." He said, smirking, "I mean, what girl wouldn't want to-"

"Suck face with a face sucker?" I finished.

He rolled his eyes, flashing his fangs, "Aw, come on. You know you wanna taste these fangs."

I pinched the bridge of my nose in a futile attempt to stop a head ache. "Tripp, just get in there, and make my dad like you."

He smirked, and reached over, pinching my cheek playfully. I tried to push his hand away, but he just redirected it, and ran his through my hair, playing with a strand that stuck out to the side. "Your hair looks nice down."

I pulled away from him, and opened the door to the living room. Dad sat there in the lazy boy, a beer in one and, and a gun in the other, like a white trash bad ass.

Dad looked Tripp up and down, a glare settling in on his face, "Thought you said he was a vampire."

Trip flashed his fangs towards my dad, "Yep, I am. Ya wanna see my wings?"

Tripp shrugged his trench coat off, and his wings unfolded, the huge black and read appendages stretching out. Dad didn't even blink. "Great, so, you're like a mutant chicken, with teeth?"

Tripp laughed, "That's the best description of myself I've ever heard."

Tripp sat down on the sofa, and I sat down next to him, both of us facing Dad. It was… awkward to say the least.

Grandpa and Uncle Dick were sitting on the other couch, watching us with anticipation, waiting for hell to break loose. I'm glad that I didn't tell Dad Tripp is nearly indestructible at night.

Tripp's wings were folded back halfway, to allow him to sit on the couch without taking it up completely. A few seconds ticked by, and he snaked his arm around my waist, pulling us a little close together.

Dad's hand tightened over his gun. "So… you wanna date my little girl, huh?"

Tripp nodded, "Yep."

Dad cocked his gun, and fiddled with the trigger, "Huh, well, there's this thing I have about my daughter and dating. I don't like it. Because teenage boys are evil, and all they wanna do with her is get into her pants."

"Dad."

"Honey, I know because I was one." Dad said, then turned back to Tripp. "Let me just clear this up. There are a few rules towards dating my little girl."

"Dad!"

"Number one, if you're as old as Justin says you are, you should know a lot about sex ed right? And if you don't have a protective barrier during sex, you could get a terrible disease and it'll kill you? _I _am the barrier, and _I _will kill you."

"Oh my God. Dad!"

"Number two, you do _not _touch my daughter in front of me. You can look at her, as long as your eyes don't wander beneath her shoulders. If you can't keep your hands or eyes off my daughter while in my presence, I will relocate them to a jar on my dresser." Jason said, pointing his gun right at Trips head. Tripp took his arm off of me.

"Number three, I don't like you, and you're now afraid of me. Neither one of us wants to speak to each other, so we won't. In fact, the only time I'm ever going to talk to you is when I ask you when you're going to have my daughter home. The answer to that question is the same every time. Before ten."

"Ten!? Dad, I stay out every night on patrol until three in the morning!"

"Ten." He repeated. "Know this, the moment you break up with my daughter, you're fair game. Game as in, something I stare through on the scope of my bazooka."

"You have a bazooka?" Tripp asked, thoroughly alarmed.

I rolled my eyes, "He has three."

"Three!?"

"As I was saying, the moment _you _break up with _her_, I _will _hunt you down. Because then when she sees your blood all over me, instead of anger and betrayal, all she'll feel towards me is love and gratitude." He explained. "But if she breaks up with you, then I'll send you my pity via text. And then I'll hunt you down. Number four, you are to never take my daughter anywhere vaguely romantic. No romantic movies, no cafes, no boat rides down a rive, no carnivals, and absolutely no baby animals. Now, places with blood and gore, eternal fear, and the smell of death, that's okay by me. Sport games are better though. Just not anything with swim suits."

"Mom! Dad's being a douche!"

"Kimberly, you said you'd let me handle this!" Dad yelled.

Mom walked into the room, "Justin, listen to your father."

"Ugh, fine!"

"Number five, I know Justin warned you somewhat of who I am, and what I can do to you." Dad stood up from his seat, as did Grandpa and Uncle Dick. Tim came out of no where, and so did Damian. Every single one of them held a weapons. Dad and Grandpa had guns, Uncle Dick had his sticks, Tim had his bo staff, and Damian had his sword. "She didn't even scratch the surface. I will torture you until all the blood vessels in your throat burst from all your screaming, and watch you drown in your own blood."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I will never have one good relationship will I?"

Damian smirked, "Not with us here Todd."

Dad shut Damian up with a glare, "Here's my point, now that you know I'm not some middle aged has been, and you know not to screw around with me, when I ask you any question at all about where you plan to take my daughter and who will be there as well, I had better get the truth, the entire truth, and nothing but the truth, the very first time I ask."

Tripp nodded quickly and silently. There goes the exciting relationship thrill I was looking for.

**If you wanna see the youtube AMV for these awesome characters of mine, I made a video of all my DR members, and their theme songs. Every single one of those songs is an awesome one that had affected my life at some point.**

**Just go onto youtube, search Revenge Of The Desperate Theme Songs, and it should be the first to pop up. My username on there is Amelia34479.**

**Along with this video is a small contest... hee hee. I hid ONE spoiler in the video. In order to find it, you need to look in one of the male character's clip. I can't really give you any more info... other than it has to do with an upcoming romance in the story! (One of my friends/unoffcial family has been particuarly bugging me about the female character involved... YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! Dork.)**

**So that's pretty much it. If you guess the upcoming pairing correctly, you get your name featured in an upcoming chapter.**

**That's really the only reward I can offer you guys... sorry. I know it's kind of lame.**

**And a bit of a disclaimer here: I promise nothing about this pairing. I won't say how long it'll last, how it'll end, or if both of the people in this pairing will end up living. Guess in fear.**

**In other news, MY MOTHER GOT MARRIED! She eloped with her boyfriend while we were at my dad's house for the weekend... I didn't know you could still elope when you were past the age of thirty two. (She'll kill me if I post her real age online) So now, me and my two sibligns from my mother's previouse marriage have FOUR new siblings... three new borhters and one new sister, all from my new step father's past two marriages.**

**Oh joy. Nah, I'm kidding, I love these guys!**


	22. Ah, To Be Young And In Love!

I peeked out from under all three of the blankets around me as Alfred placed a cup of tea on the coffee table, "Alright Miss Justine, no sneaking off, no trying to train, no stressing yourself out. Simply relax, and try to get well."

I rolled my eyes, and sneezed several times. "Ugh… fine. But honestly (sneeze) do you think that (cough) I'd even try, in this state?"

Alfred cast me a sly grin, "Oh, I have no doubt you will try."

I glared at him, "I don't like being sick."

He turned to leave, "Well then, I suggest getting well, quickly."

I grumbled, pulling the warm blankets closer around me. "Sarcastic old bastard…"

"Todd!" Damian snapped, slinging his back pack over his shoulder as he walked past the living room, heading to school, "I demand you be well by the time I get home, otherwise I shall attempt acupuncture to cure you."

"Acupuncture? You mean that stuff with needles?"

His grinned wickedly, holding up a knife. "I will not use needles."

Kenya pranced up to me, holding her breath, and gave me a folded up piece of paper, then she placed Jabberwocky on top of my blanket, and ran out of the room to go to school.

Damian and Kenya left, catching a ride with Jay and Ann, who had begun to take college courses at Gotham City Community College. Bruce said if they stayed there two years, he could get them accepted to any college they wanted.

Stupid Jay with his stupid girlfriend.

Mom passed by my room, smiling, "I've gotta go to work okay? I'll tell your grand parents you said hi."

"Okay, love you mom." I said, before breaking into a coughing fit.

Mom rubbed my head, "Get better sweetie, I love you too."

And now the only people left in the mansion are me, Alfred, and for a short amount of time, Dad.

Bruce is at a meeting, and Dad is a bum so he's always home. Until night comes around.

I felt a two hours tick by, watching bad cartoons and reality TV. Until the door bell rang.

Alfred went to answer it, and then came back into the room, "Miss Justine? Your friend Tripp is here."

Oh joy.

I got up, wrapping one of the bigger blankets around myself, and walking to the door, "Tripp?"

He stood there, in his gothed out glory. And the ever present cross necklace still around his neck. He grinned at me, "So, why are you cutting school today?"

I glared at him, "I'm sick." Cue more coughing and sneezing.

Alfred spoke up, "Mrs. Justine, please get inside and out of the cold. If you'd like to continue your conversation, please invite your guest in."

"Whose at the front door?" Dad snapped, coming up behind me and glaring at Tripp. "Sorry kid, Justin is sick. Get lost." He shut the door.

I glared at him, "Dad-"

"Don't start with me Justin." Dad growled, "You are sick, go lay down. The boy is not coming in here."

I retreated back to the couch, burrowing under the blankets once more.

I got so bored I started watching Kenya's Disney movies. I watched Oliver and Company… willingly!

_Tap tap tap._

I looked over to the window, and saw Tripp, grinning and holding up his back pack.

I groaned, and got up once more, unlocking the window. "What?"

Tripp jumped inside, and walked over the to TV, "Justin, I am here to save you. And hopefully get some action as well."

"Good luck with that." I snorted, before sneezing.

"Wow, you really are sick!" He said, putting a DVD in the player. He then jumped back, landing on the spot I had been sitting on. My comfy place. "Now come on, I ran all the way to my place to get these DVD's. I deserve some cuddle time."

I rolled my eyes, settling down on the couch next to him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me down slowly to lay against him, my back to his chest. "What DVDs?"

"Every season of Buffy currently available." He mumbled into my ear. "I know you hate Twilight, which just makes me that much hotter for you, so I brought Buffy. And watching this is going to turn me on even more."

I smirked, "Why? You hot for Angel too?"

He laughed, "Nah, I'm hot for a certain ginger-"

"Not a ginger." I snapped, "I have dark red hair, not orange hair."

"It's still ginger babe." He smirked. "Now how about you keep quiet so this old man can educate you on classic vampires? Ya know, back when they didn't suck?"

I chuckled, leaning into his muscled chest. Despite most of my nose being taken up by snot, I could smell his scent. He smelled like smoke, blood, and death. Was it wrong that I liked it?

His fingers peeled the edge of my t-shirt back, trailing the tips across my hips and stomach. "The last girl I tried to get lucky with killed me."

I hummed. "You can die?"

"I'm vulnerable during the day." He mumbled, "I told you that. I just… well, she killed me, and I went to hell for the first time this century. It was kind of embarrassing facing my dad, and telling him how I was killed this time…"

I giggled, "Hey, killing your significant other is kind of romantic."

He stiffened up, "Oh man… please don't kill me. I try to cut down on my visits home to one per century."

"The only person who's gonna kill you is my dad, if he walks in on this."

Tripp chuckled darkly, inching his fingers further up my shirt, brushing over the skin right below my breast. I felt the tip of his tongue glide slowly over the shell of my ear, and his dark voice whisper, "I'll take the risk."

His tongue flicked against my ear again, and I bit down on my tongue to hold in a shiver. His tongue pulled away, and I felt something sharper against the shell. Teeth. He nipped at it harshly, until it stung. Then he got a good grip on it with his front teeth, and gave a hesitant pull.

My hands shot out, and I grabbed his legs on either side of me, digging my fingers into his thighs. Why is a dead guy so sexy!?

He chuckled again, and his voice came out sexy and low, "How hot are you baby?"

Damn!

BAM!

A bullet embedded itself into the couch cushion right next to us.

"Get your mouth and your hands off my baby right now!" Dad screamed, gun pointing at Tripp.

Tripp jumped up off the sofa, tangling himself into the blankets and falling on his face.

"Don't kill him, Dad!" I begged.

"Get your demon ass out of here!" Dad screamed, "Now!"

Tripp jumped out the window, shattering it and dashing off towards the tree line. Dad holstered his gun, and threw me over his shoulder along with my remaining blanket. He carried me down into the bat cave, and made me curl up in the computer chair while he tore a punching bag with Tripp's picture on it into shreds.

I slowly took out my phone, whispering into it "Mom?"

She answered, "What?"

"Daddy-bats is here. In the bat cave. Help me."

I had a feeling Tripp wasn't going to be coming around anytime soon.

**WITH KYLER:**

I body tackled the last thug, pointing an arrow at his face, "Who hired you!?"

He yelped, "I- he'll kill me if I tell!"

"That'll be a blessing compared to what I'll do to you." I growled.

He choked back a sob, "I… His name is Gunslinger."

I frowned, "A crime lord?"

"A vigilante!" he choked, "From Gotham, but he's branching out."

"Nice try." I said dryly. "If there was another vigilante in Gotham, Black Hood would know about it."

"He's below the radar." The guy mumbled.

"He can't be below the Bat's-"

"Oh, so you're Speedy?"

I whirled around, aiming my bow and arrow at the new voice.

He stepped out of the shadows, clad in an Army stealth outfit. Guns strung across his belt and back. He offered me a lopsided grin. "I'm Gunslinger."

I lifted my foot up, and slammed it down, knocking out the thug I had questioned. The rule of DR flashed through my mind. _Killing in circumstances of desperation, or well deserved revenge is allowed._ Not desperation, or revenge. But killing him here and now would be a lot simpler.

But nightmares come after a kill, I knew that already.

"I expected a hardened warrior, and that much is true but-" He took a few steps forward, but stopped when the end of my arrow brushed against his chest. "I didn't expect her to be so beautiful."

When was the last time a guy called me that? Never. And he was kind of cute. But the enemy. So I'm about to wail the snot out of him.

He smiled, "But the idiot didn't know what he was talking about. I'm not branching out into Star City. I was following a lead. I got what I needed, and I'm heading back to Gotham now."

I lowered my bow and arrow, shrugging, and walking away. "Fine, let Black Hood tear you to pieces."

He laughed, "Oh, Speedy?"

I turned back around, and he held out a flower made out of metal. It wasn't even one big piece, it looked like several scraps of varying kinds of metal welded together. But It was beautiful.

"I hope I'll see you again soon."


	23. Amanda Todd

So I was sick for two weeks. Apparently it wasn't a cold, it was allergies. These stupid new flowers Bruce had the gardener's plant. Made me want to chase them all back to Mexico.

But despite my Dad freaking out about Tripp feeling me up on the couch and trying to kill him, Tripp wasn't deterred. He's sneaked in ever day or so, find me, and does something kind of sweet. We had finished watching Buffy, and I'm in love with this show!

So he brought the Buffy spin off, Angel and after we finished that, we watched Bones. Because now I've got a crush on David Boreanaz.

We'd usually manage to get in around ten episodes of whatever we were watching until Dad would burst in and nearly kill him. Tripp got smart after the third time and only came around at night. He couldn't die at night.

But eventually we ran out of things to watch, so I took a leap of faith, and introduced him to the soap opera I had fallen in love with.

_Tripp frowned at the screen, "You watch this garbage?"_

_"Just watch it, you'll understand soon."_

_Rosalyn walked into her house. She headed to her walk in closet. She pulled a few hidden switches, and stood back as her racks of clothes folded into the wall, and racks of guns, knives, grenades, and an awesome outfit popped out._

_Camouflage Capri pants, black muscle t-shirt with dark green ascents, and to top it all off, a red beret._

_Rosalyn nodded to herself, "I am getting my baby back."_

_Tripp's eyes widened as she proceeded to take down ten men with all her weapons. "Wow, this just reached a new level of __awesome__."_

_I could only smile inside, because he had taken the words from my mouth._

_Moment was ruined when Dad chased him off with a bazooka._

Great to be back at school.

I wish that was true. But there's this thing about me and school. I hate it.

I went to my locker, walking past a snickering boy with blonde hair. I raised an eyebrow at him with one hand on my lock dial. "What are you looking at?"

He shook his head, trying to hold back laughter. "Nothing."

I opened my locker, and a midget fell out.

He was about a foot shorter than me, thin as a twig, and big dorky glasses. He jumped up, stuttering away while he pushed his brown curly hair out of his eyes. "S-sorry, I-I was j-just-"

"Just a little joke." The blonde boy laughed. I knew him, he was on the football team. "Right Jake?"

Jake didn't make eye contact. I knew that kind of behavior; I saw it in abuse victims all over Gotham. Jake just mumbled, "Yeah, just a joke."

The blonde jock laughed, smirking at me, "Just a joke Todd, you aren't laughing inside?"

I was vomiting.

The jock walked away, bumping Jake as he passed, making his glasses fall off.

Jake fumbled, trying to pick up his glasses, but he apparently couldn't see at all without them. Watching him try to pick up his glasses was like watching Velma from Scooby Do scrambling around for her shades.

I picked them up for him, careful not to smudge the glass.

He took them, still stumbling over words, "You- uh- I was just- thanks."

I nodded, helping him up. "It's alright. He gives you trouble again, just get me. I'll straighten him out."

He finally looked up at me, "Hey- wait… you're that girl would made those Goth kids cry!"

"If you're going to dress like a bad ass in my school, you best be a bad ass. That was the reasoning behind it at the time." I explained. "You get picked on a lot?"

He nodded numbly. "All the time."

"Mostly by that guy?" I asked.

He shrugged. "A lot of others too."

"You mean the football team, and the other jocks?"

"Try anyone taller than me."

I couldn't laugh. But I wanted to so bad.

"Justin Todd? Could I see you for a minute?"

I turned to look, it was the school councilor. Mr. Britt.

Damn.

"Fine."

I followed him into his office, sitting down and crossing my arms. He just beamed at me, a real creepy smile. "What?"

"I saw the whole thing in the hallway!" He said happily. "I never knew you had such a heroic streak Justin!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I thought you were a good for nothing rebel. I thought you didn't care about anyone, but seeing you with the victim, well, it's opened my eyes." He explained, and then opened one of his desk drawers, rummaging through it. "I've been trying to reach you the _wrong way_. You don't respond to having role models, or being one."

"Hey, I thought I was a great role model for that water polo team!" I defended.

He fixed me with a stern gaze, "Every single one of those kids quit the team and moved onto football and baseball. Because you made fun of the sport so much, they felt it ridiculous!"

"It is! Hell, regular polo is stupid enough, but water polo!?"

He sighed, "Anyways, I'm going to assign you an extracurricular, get you doing something for the school."

"I help out a nerd, and I get homework!? Shouldn't he be doing my homework!?"

He rolled his eyes, and took a video camera out of his drawer. "Our school has hopped on board the anti-bullying train that most schools in the area are on. Most schools are having their students make an anti-bully video. I've tried to get the AV club on this, but all they want to do is experiment with special effects."

"Well, duh. Do you wanna make a gay ass video about crying teenagers, or go green screen to film space trolls slicing up space elves with battle axes and machete's, with lasers everywhere?!"

He stared at me for a few moments, before sighing, "Justin, I just want to let you know, my door is always open, anytime, anything you want to talk about. School, friends, family, romance life. Honestly, anytime."

I stared at him. "You expect me to walk in here, and talk to a guy I don't even know about stuff that isn't any of his business?"

He chuckled, "I have a scholarship on therapy from Harvard."

"And you're stuck in a public high school?" I smirked, standing up, "Nice try Mr. Sensitive, but I prefer to solve all my problems the same way."

"Arson?"

"… Several ways. Arson, assault, murder, or spray paint." I reached his door, laughing to myself.

"Then what about a deal?" He asked.

I looked over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "A deal?"

"You make the video, and come see me every Friday for twenty-five minutes."

"I have to talk to you about my," I let out an involuntary shiver, "Feelings… for nearly half an hour?"

"We don't half to talk about that, if you don't want. You just have to be here, I don't care what you do."

I frowned, "What do I get out of it?"

"Besides making a difference for bully victims?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes, "Why would I care?"

"Over two-thousands kids are afraid to come to school every day. Most of them are high school teenagers. When they can't stand up for themselves, they resort often to suicide."

I didn't even blink, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"The statistics?"

"No, the idea that killing yourself will solve your problems." I snapped, "Most religions say that gets you a one way ticket to Hell, and even for atheists that's a bad idea. Do they even wonder what that does to their families? Teachers? Even just random people who happen to hear about that?"

He smiled, "Yeah, you're perfect to make the video."

"I still don't see what I get out of it."

"I'll stay off your back about classes, and get the principle to do the same." He offered.

It's about friggin time!

"Hell yes."

**LATER AT THE MANOR:**

"Hey Tim?" I asked.

He looked up, "Hmm?"

I held up the video camera Mr. Britt had given me, "How do you talk to nerds?"

He stared at me, then the video camera. "Justin… what are you doing?"

I groaned, sitting down in the chair across from him. "I have to make a video about bullying. Nerds get bullied. You're a nerd. Talk to me."

He sighed, "Justin, why?"

"School made me."

"Do they realize you're probably the worst candidate for an anti-bully video, ever?"

I shrugged, "Said something about my 'heroic streak' whatever the hell that is."

Tim turned his gaze from me, to the area behind me, and fixed it with a glare. I looked behind me as well, and saw Tripp leaning against the wall, smirking, "Hey babe."

"Tripp." I mumbled.

He just smirked more, "I've got plans tonight, and they involve you. You can come as you are."

I looked down at my clothes, raggy jeans, Hollywood Undead t-shirt, and my signature red converse. Must not be that big of a date then. "Alright."

I turned back to Tim, "Can you…?"

Tim sighed, rubbing his forehead, "Can I talk to you alone Justin?"

I nodded, "Tripp, leave."

He nodded, and walked by me as he left, not before letting his hand shoot out to grab my butt first. I felt a furious blush creep up my cheeks.

Tim groaned, leaning back in his chair, "Justin, let me make myself clear, I hate your boyfriend. I think you should dump him, and then look the other way as I take care of him. I. Want. To. Kill. Your boyfriend. And I don't kill."

"… But?"

Tim sighed, "But, it's your life, your decisions, and your mistakes. I'll cover for you while you're gone."

"You rule Tim!"

"On one condition."

"Damn you Tim."

"You better do one bad ass anti-bullying video."

I grinned, "I'll make sure it makes papers."

"Just don't kill any kids that piss you off, okay?"

"You're no fun Tim!"

He just groaned.

Tripp stuck his head in the door, "We done now? Good."

"Where are we going?" I asked as he scooped me up and started flying out the window.

"We're going to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and make fun off all the women who wore cocktail dresses, without thinking about the wind."

What can I say? He knows what I like.

Two days later, an anti-bullying video went viral on YouTube. The account was untraceable, so no one could prove who did it. And the 'victims' were too scared to talk to cops.

All the viewers saw was a hooded figure, interrogating kids until they admitted to bullying and physically abusing other kids. That figure proceeded to beat the teens until they cried, and verbally abuse them the entire time. The video got mixed responses, some outraged, and others grateful that someone was fighting back.

Mr. Britt called me into his office the next day, he poked and prodded me for answers, but I never gave him any. But he still thinks I did it, especially since he got his video camera back wiped clean. He did say, "I don't approve of physical violence, but I supposed everyone has their own ways of dealing with life. I look forward to finding out why yours is violence."

I'm not thrilled about having to talk to this idiot about my feelings. I'd rather just swallow them.

* * *

**This chapter was a tribute to Amanda Todd, and all the other teenagers who have committed suicide, or though about it because of abuse or bullying.**


	24. Paris, then Egypt, then Gotham

I sometimes wonder why I was even involved with Tripp. He clearly wanted to be the dominate one in the relationship, and that was a problem because I was a dominate player too. It's really a tough border to get around, especially during… intimate moments.

You remember that date on top of the Eiffel Tower? Well, we ended it after a 'sudden unexplained' gust of wind made this really pretty lady's dress fly up over her head, revealing that she had opted to crotchless underwear underneath.

Tripp nearly fell off the tower laughing. I threw a fork at his head.

The food was really good though, and he decided to freak people out with our departure, by wrapping his arms around me and jumping off the building and flying away with me. His lips were immediately on my ear, "How about somewhere more private? Close your eyes."

I did. Wind rushed past me, and then I heard his voice in my ear again, "Open them."

We were on top of a pyramid. A damn pyramid. "Tripp..."

He sat down on the ancient bricks, and yanked me down to sit on his lap, arms around my waist. "Look up."

I was getting pretty tired of the 'look' game. But I did it anyways. Shit that was a lot of stars. Billions upon billions of tiny little lights. It was beautiful, incredible. Gotham City never had stars like this, but Russian had.

"I love this." I mumbled.

His thubs slipped under the hem of my shirt, masagging little circles into my hips. "Well, that's kind of why I brought to here, babe."

There were time that I forgot how Tripp felt. Cold, and stiff. Sometimes I wondered why, and I always came to the same conslusion. He was a corpse.

It came to feel normal after awhile, his surprise visits, the way he would hold me, and eventually the way he would just go off into a story ever five minutes.

"I used to turn a lot of people into vampires, you know." Tripp mumbled into my ear. "I stopped doing that years ago. They all just turned out so... disgusting. Like Dracula. The bastard got to hung up on stuff that wasn't going to last. He was to human. Same thing with all of them."

"What about Angel and Spike?" I joked, "What happened to them?"

Tripp's tongue flicked out against my ear, "Angel grew a soul, Spike got hung up on a blonde with a bite."

I was quiet for awhile, not sure what to say. Tripp didn't mind the silence, he just kept on inching his hands further up my shirt, and tormenting my ear with nibbles and licks.

"Why do you put up with me?"

Tripp immediatly haulted his administrations, "What?"

"My dad nearly kills you every time he sees you, and you have to admit, i didn't exactly make things easy for you to start with." I explained.

Tripp rested his chin on my shoulder, wrapping his arms tighter around me, "You're interesting. I told you before, crazy is a turn on, and you're overflowing with it."

I felt something inside of me cringe a little. He just wanted the physical, the sex and the pleasure. He wasn't interested in anything else.

"Okay."

"And I'll talk to your dad." Tripp said. "Convince him to stop being so narrow minded."

"No!" I protested, "Don't, seriousley, just don't talk to my dad."

Tripp flipped suddenly, pinning me down ontop of the pyramid as he smirked, "I, am not afraid of your father."

I swallowed, a mad blush creeping across my face, "You should be."

Tripp laughed, his lips going to my neck, playfully biting at the sensitive skin, "No, you should be afraid of my dad. I mean, the rate you're going, you'll be spending eternity with him. Word of advice, treat Hell like prison. Take down the big guy, you'll be okay. Anytime a new comer walks it, which is like two hundred every freakin second, beat their ass."

I stared at him, "I'm... going to hell."

"I can smell your soul." Tripp said, "No offence, but it's pretty tainted."

His lips moved to my collar bone, and I closed my eyes, fully intranced in the pleasure. I figured I wasn't heaven material anyways. He pushed my shirt up further, revealing my muscled stomach. "What the-"

I looked down to see what had him so speechless. I stopped when I saw what it was. My scars.

I had nearly eight on my stomach, some from knives, some from bullets, some from swords, one was even from an arrow. I lost all sense of lust in that moment, my haunted past coming to my mind. "Just- uh, from training."

I grabbed my shirt to pull it down, but Tripp wasn't fond of that idea. "I like them."

I looked up into his blood red eyes, "What?"

He smirked, "I've got scars too, ya know. Used to hide them, but I learned a long time ago scars aren't marks of shame, they tell your life's story. If you don't have any scars, you've got a pretty boring life. And I don't mean wrist scars form those idiot cutters. But these scars? These are battle marks." He dipped his head down, trailing his tongue along one left from a sword. "And they're sexy."

I couldn't help the shiver that escaped from my throat as the hot muscle licked along my scars, memorizing the stories they told.

"They're almost as sexy as your hands."

Again, I'm drawing up a blank.

Tripp laughed again, taking one of my hands in his, running his finger tips over it. "They've got so many cuts, burns, and a few little scars." He flipped it over to show the palm, "And these calluses, all of them... it's easy to tell that your hands alone are weapons in themselves, they've killed so many people."

I don't know if it's right to like a man who has such odd ideas about what's sexy. But everything he says, it's the best thing any man has ever said to me. If he keeps up with that sweet talk, I might actually fall for him.

But I'd rather not.

Tripp turns back to reguard my stomach, "You know... there's just something missing here."

He looked back up at me, spreading his wings as far as they would go, showing his fangs so the moonlight danced on them. "You don't have any bite marks."

His grip on my hips tightened to the point where I knew there would be bruises. And some part of me liked the idea of his hands leaving bruises on me. He leaned down so we were face to face, his breath tickling my nose. "I can help you with that."

I can't even find the words to talk. I always had a knack for coming up with witty comebacks, but I'm drawing up a blank here.

One of Tripp's hands left my hip, running overmy stomach, past the tiny little humps on my chest, and firmly gripped my throat, as if he was about to strangle me. but his hands were gentle, his fingers tracing paterns over the flesh. "You want me to leave bite marks on you Justin? Have scars on your body you can never get rid of? A permanent reminder of me?"

He has no idea how good that sounds to me.

His lips were on my ear, his tongue and teeth coaxing little moans and shivers out of me. "I have a place in downtown Gotham... just say the word and we'll go."

"How far?" I finally manage to ask.

"... We're in Egypt, it's pretty damn far from here."

"How far do you want to go?" I clarrified. "How far... with me?"

He smirked in understanding, his hand cupping my cheek as he stares me dead in the eyes. "All the way."

"You have protection?"

"Full box at my place, assorted colors."

"Okay." _What the hell did I just agree to!?_ My dad is gonna kill me. No, probably just kill Tripp.


	25. Innoscence Lost - Wait I Never Had It!

Do you know what ya got into?

Can ya handle what I'm about to do?

Cause it's about to get rough for you.

I'm here for your entertainment.

I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet

Yu thought an angel swept you off you're feet.

But I'm about to turn up the heat.

I'm here for your entertainment.

_Dunya dragged me down the hall by the roots of my hair, mumbling curses under her breath, mixed with words like useless, unintelligent, weak, pitiful, and 'hardly fit for stealth' as she did so. Since I was barefoot, the backs of my heels dragged against the concrete floors. I was bleeding from several stab wounds around my thighs, upper arms, and shoulders. Not to mention my scalp felt like it was on fire. But I had learned long ago not to pull away or whimper in pain, that would just make it worse._

_She threw open the door to the broom closet she called my room, throwing me face first into the rotten mattress with a thin sheet over the top. "Six days." She hissed._

_Three days to heal until she would train me again. She slammed the door, leaving me be._

_I laid on my bed for the first four days, believing if I stayed perfectly still the wounds would heal faster. I ignored all sounds, just focusing on healing myself. Meals were pushed under the door. And by meals I mean a piece of fruit and bits of meat._

_But on the fifth night, I couldn't stay still anymore. What kid could, during a snowfall? I stood up on tip toe to peer out of my tiny little window. Snow nipped at my nose, an overall pleasant feeling. A few snowflakes from the storm were blown through the window, brushing against eyelashes and the tips of my ears._

_A wolf howled in the distance, a lone cry through the silent night. Then his whole pack joined in. Why did they howl? Why did they scream so loud? Were they looking for someone? The idea of a family of wolves, searching for a little lost cub._

I woke up to the smell of rancid breath in my face. I peaked through one eye, seeing Rango at the top of my bed instead of the bottom. Dumb mutt. I started to move, but pain suddenly shot from between my legs... and various other spots on my body, but mostly between my legs.

I cursed out loud, and Rango turned over in his sleep. What happened with Tripp last night suddenly came back to my mind, and I nearly puked from the shock. But instead, I took a deep breath, and managed to mumble to myself, "Damn... vampire boy is into really weird stuff."

I ran a hand through my hair, and noticed a small envelope on top of my blankets. My name was written on it.

I leaned forward, clenching my teeth at the pain from what seemed everywhere, and picked it up. I settled back down in my blankets, sighing in relief. The handwriting had a very Tripp look to it. And by 'Tripp look' I mean to many swirls and curves, damn this boy had fancy handwriting.

Justin,

I suggest long sleeves, with either gloves or wrist bands. See you in school on Monday.

P.S.

You were pretty good for a virgin.

I glared at the three sentance letter, that asshole. Still, the wristband thing puzzled me. I looked down at my hands, and sighed. There was a big red, scabby ring around each wrist from the handcuffs. Oh.

I sat up in bed again, ignoring the pain, and amanged to pull myself out of bed, and stumble to my bathroom. I found it odd that I was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of red boxers, when I had been wearing a Beastie Boys t-shirt and black boxers underneath my pants on our date. He had re-dressed me, after destroying my clothes over hte course of the night.

I sucked a breath in through my teeth when I saw myself in the mirror. Rope burns, bruises, bit marks, and I-just-had-sex hair do, and there was blood in between my legs. Right... virgins bleed after the first few times. I lifted my shirt up to stare at my stomach, bite marks, still bleeding. So apparently when Tripp says 'have sex' he means 'let me maul you'. Still, it was pretty damn hot.

My mind drifted back to last night... was it worth all the pain? I felt a faint bluch creep up my neck at the memories. Oh yeah, more than worth it. I rocked his world. I heard a light knock on my bathroom door. "Todd? Drake is talking about taking you an I out for re-con?"

"Uh... don't think I can come today." I mumbled.

"Why on Earth not?" Damian asked, throwing the door open. He froze, taking in my appearance, and then let out a sigh, "Todd, please tell me you did not sleep with that human match stick."

"I didn't."

Damian paused, "Then who?"

"Tripp."

"Who?"

"Damian, you know Tripp. I brought him home to meet you all. The vampire? Red and black wings? Fangs?"

Damian's eyes widened, "But, you said he was the son of Satan. Demonic royalty."

"That's right."

"Why would he still pursue a relationship with you? To him, you're a peasant."

I glared at him, "Well guess what? He must think I'm friggin awesome, cause I spent the better part of my night tied to his headboard, making him groan and moan!"

Damian raised an eyebrow, "He tied you up?"

"Do you not see the rope burns!?"

"Isn't that rape?"

I sighed, "No, baby bat. It's a kink."

"A kink?"

I groaned, "Why am I talking about this with you? Look it up online, they've got tons of videos about it!"

He nodded slowly, "Um, Todd?"

"Huh?"

"What's around your neck?"

My hand flew up to my neck, brushing against metal and leather. Damn it to hell. I practically tore off the offending collar, "Forgot I was wearing that."

"He collared you like a dog!?" Damian hissed, "I'll kill that bastard!"

"It's just a sex game, calm down!" I hissed right back.

He shook his head, "How did you two not wake everyone up?"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to ward off the oncoming head ache, "We did it at his place."

Damian suddenly smirked, a demonic, mischevious smirk that made me want to piss all over myself. "What are you smiling about?"

"I am smiling about the fact your father doesn't know that bastard vampire de-flowered you."

I glared at him, "What are you saying?"

"I am saying, that unless you help me in humiliating Jay today, I will leave an anonumis note in his room." Damian explained.

I froze, "You back stabbing, black mailing little bitch."

"I learned from the best."

"Alright, let me grab long sleeves and wrist bands, we'll have him blushing like a bride on her wedding night."

"You mean how your vampire boyfriend made you blush last night?"

"I'm not a blusher, I'm a curser."

Damian gave me a 'are you kidding' look. "I did not need to know that."

I pulled on very loose work out pants, because there were bruises all up and down my legs, along with a few scratches. What can I say? Tripp liked it rough, and I could handle the pain pretty easily. Now granted, being tied, beaten around, and collared isn't what most girls want their first time to be like, but I found it kind of kinky.

I pulled on a long sleeved red hoodie over myself, hood up, and walked with Damian into the kitchen. I tried my best to disguise my limp, but... it hurt. Very bad.

Second time better be a lot easier to deal with.

I walked through the kitchen, aiming for the cookie jar. Dick stood infront of the refridgerator, and when i walked by, he imemdiatly stiffened. He slammed the door to it shut, and stared at me as I grabbed a cookie from the jar.

"You had sex!"

I froze, cookie halfway to my mouth. I met Dick's gaze, and I knew there was no point in hiding it from him. Dick Grayson is a walking sex machine, if he knows, he knows.

"Don't tell anyone."

Dick was suddenly right next to me, "You had sex with a vampire- wait, are you a vampire now?"

"No idiot." I snapped.

"Did you use a condom!?"

"Yeah-"

"Oh, good. That's all the matters then. What's having sex with a vampire like?" He asked, "I mean, how many rounds was he good for-"

"Dick. No. I'm not giving you the details of my sex life so you can know if you measure up to a vampire." I hissed.

"So he was good right? For... three, four rounds?"

I laughed, "You really wanna know?"

He nodded, "Yes!"

"I lost count after eight."

Dick froze as I walked past him with my cookie. I wonder how much of his manhood I destroyed.

**LATER THE NEXT DAY:**

Kyler took a sip of her sweet tea, "So, how was it with Tripp?"

"Inventive." I said thoughtfully. "He had a lot of toys, and he _knew _how to use them."

"And it really did hurt, since you were a virgin?" Kyler asked. Now, you might be wondering why the hell I'm talking in so much detail about this to Kyler, when I hardly wanted to think about it arounf Dick and Damian. Here's why. Girls talk about everything, and I mean everything. If you have a girlfriend, and she has two or three really close female friends, you can bet your ass every single one of those friends knows every detail about your sex life.

"Yeah, I think it was easier for me though, cause Tripp is small."

Kyler paused, "No, he's about six foot seven, that's not that-"

I gave her a look.

"Oh." She said, "You mean he's small down there."

"Yeah, not unbelieveably midget small, I'd say about three or four inches. It's average."

She nodded, humming slightly. "So, what's his kink?"

I looked around the DR kitchen, since Conan and Snow were out, and Raphael would rather die than hear his ex-girlfriend talk about the mind blowing sex she's having with another guy, I figured we had enough privacy. "Dom/sub."

Kyler froze. "You mean... a slave kink?"

"It's different, I looked it up." I explained, "It's similar, with the collars, and the leashes, and the-"

"Slavery." Kyler commented. "He bosses you around, and if you don't listen to him, you get punished?"

"Pretty much." I mumbled.

"How the hell are you, Justin freaking Todd, being a slave?" She asked.

"I'm not a slave, I'm a sub. And say what you want, I know it's weird to think of me like that but..." I paused, taking a deep breath, "Apparently... I get off on pain and humiliation."

Kyler didn't even blink, "Does that mean, when you're getting beat up by thugs-"

"No." I said, "Its... different in the bedroom. I'm a punk ass, douche bag who starts fights and marks her territory all day long. It feels pretty nice to just take orders for once. I don't like being treated gentle, Tripp understands that, and it works for both of us."

Kyler nodded, "I guess understanding what you each want in the bedroom helps the relationship. I've tried getting what I want from guys, and it's nearly impossible."

"Well, what do you want?" I asked.

"I wanna be on top."

"I don't see why a guy wouldn't want to-"

"For the whole time, every time." She explained.

"Oh." I said, "Yeah, good luck with that."

She sighed, drowning the last of her tea. "Hey, do you guys have a safeword?"

I nodded, "He wouldn't start without one."

"Well, what is it?"

I felt my face heat up a little, "Pineapples."

Kyler raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

I shrugged, "It sounded less pathetic than stop or no. I'm still a badass, remember?"

"Did you ever have to use it?" She stood up to wash her cup.

I shook my head, "No, I've gotta admit, a few times I said no, but it was more out of shock than not wanting to do it."

Kyler nodded, "Uh, so did he find your G-spot?"

I blushed, "Around the fifth round."

"But I thought he was only seven-"

"Toys."

"Oh." She said. "So, uh... when are you gonna tell your dad?"

"I'm gonna let him think I'm still a virgin."

"No I mean, don't you think you need to make it clear to your dad that you're not going to stop seeing Tripp? I mean, he needs to accept that you and Tripp are gonna be together for awhile." She sat back down, "I think you might wanna just break his heart and get it over with."

I bit the tip of my tongue quickly, "I don't think I'll ever convince my dad to let me be with anyone, especially Tripp."

Kyler shrugged, "I feel bad for ya girl, this is why I keep my dad out of my love life."

I raised an eyebrow, "What love life?"

"... Shut up."


	26. Kenya And Rango And Locker Rooms

**WITH KENYA:**

I skipped down one of the bajillion halls in the huge house we all live in, jabber wocky tucked under one arm. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine!"

I tossed Jabberwocky up into the air, "You make me happy, when skies are grey."

I caught Jabberwocky out of the air as I skipped along, "You'll never know dear, how much I love you!"

I threw jabberwocky into the air again, "So please don't take my sunshine away!"

Before I could catch him again, a big blue blur shot infront of me, catching Jabberwocky in his big teeth. The minute the big monster landed, he had Jabberwocky in his jaws, making little rips and tears in him. "AAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

Rango flinched, dropping Jabberwocky, and I scooped him up, sat down right then and there, hugging him and crying, "I'm sorry I kept throwing you Jabberwocky, please don't die! Don't die Jabberwocky! I'm sorry!"

Something warm and wet licked my cheek, probably catching a few tears. I sniffed, looking up at Rango as he gave a low whine. "Y-you tried to kill Jabberwocky!"

He licked my face again. "No. No I will not forgive you!"

Rango walked behind me, and I suddenly felt myself being yanked up by the back of my jacket. "Put me down!"

Rango bolted down the hall, me hanging from his mouth, screaming, "AAAIIIEEE!"

He rounded a corner, and I felt myself nearly slip from his mouth. "JUSTIN!"

Rango stopped really fast, and dropped me on the ground. I whirled around, shaking a finger at him, "No! Bad boy!"

He flinched, and I stomped my foot. "I don't care if you're a dog, boys aren't supposed to be rough with girls!"

"Who told you that?"

I looked away from Rango, up at a boy with black hair and red eyes. "Who are you?"

He smirked, "Well little blonde child, my name is Tripp. Now who told you that lie about boys not being rough with girls?"

"A lie?" I asked.

He nodded, getting down on one knee to look me in the eye. I hate it with big kids do that, it's like they have to go that extra mile to remind me I'm short. "Big lie. It's okay for a guy to be rough with a girl. Hell, I'm extremely rough with your sister, Justin."

My eyes widened, "You are?"

"Yep, but that's okay because she retaliates by putting a bullet in my ass."

I gasped, putting a hand over my mouth, "You said a bad word."

"Damn right I did." He laughed, standing up, "Don't ever let someone tell you being a girl entitles you to not have to fight. I don't care if its against a dog or a full grown man, you need to learn that they will hurt you, and you better learn to fight back."

I paused, "Wait, does that mean Daddy is rough with Mommy?"

"I don't know, what kind of noises do you hear from their bedroom?"

"Tripp!"

He whirled around to see Justin standing there, arms crossed, glare on her face. "What have you been telling my little sister!?"

I piped up, "He said that I need to learn to fight cause just cause I'm a girl don't mean boy's won't hit me."

"Yeah." Tripp walked over to Justin, weaving his arm around her waist, "That's all I was saying. Calm down babe."

She pushed his arm away, "What are you doing here anyway? It's seven in the morning!"

He shrugged, "What? A man can't walk his woman to school?"

She groaned, "I'm still in my pajamas!"

He looked down at her, and so did I. Justin was wearing what she normally did to go to sleep in, a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. Tripp burshed his fingers over a bruise on Justin's arm, "I can help with that..."

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

Justin caught a knife from the air before it hit Tripp's throat, "Damian, stop it."

Tripp backed up a few feet, while Justin grabbed Damian so he wouldn't attack Tripp. I grinned ear to ear, "Are you guys gonna play bloody!?"

Justin rolled her eyes as Damian squirmed in her arms, "Kenya, it's the last day of school, shouldn't you be getting ready?"

I frowned, "But I hate school!"

"Never been more proud of you." She responded. "Tripp, get out of here, I'll meet you at school- DAMIAN! No biting!"

He thrashed about wildly, "I WILL KILL YOU, DEMON SPAWN!"

Justin raised an eyebrow, "Damian, you're demon spawn."

"Not as much as he is!"

Tripp chuckled, "Right, I'll be going."

Justin eventually put Damian down, and he took a deep breath, "I still want to kill him."

She rolled her eyes, picking me up, "And I still say, no."

"Maybe I wouldn't if you would have tried harder to prank Jay with me!" Damian hissed.

She frowned, "I tried, but he didn't even flinch at the dress! he just walked out of there butt naked! What was I supposed to do!? Let him walk all the way to his room and risk Kenya seeing it?"

I wrapped my arms around Justin's neck, "See what?"

"Nothing." Damian and Justin said at the same time.

I laughed, "You guys are funny!"

"Go play with the bats in the cave."

"Otay!"

**LATER, WITH JUSTIN:**

"Can you just stay away from my house?" I asked as I walked past Tripp into school.

"I could, but I won't." He answeres, hands in his black pants pockets.

"I'm not really asking." I seethed, as I walked up the steps to school, him right next to me. "I'm telling you, stay away from my house, and especially stay away from my little sister."

"How is that going to work when we're dating?" He asked.

I yanked the door open, stepping inside. "We aren't dating. You made it very clear you just want sex."

"Yeah, because I'm not the love kind. That doesn't mean we aren't dating." Tripp argued. "Your my girlfriend, and if I catch anyone making moves on you, you're gonna have to throw the GCPD off my trail when they find the body."

"Deal." I agreed. "But if I catch you hitting on another girl, it wont be her head I try to cut off."

"I love it when you get violent." He said, his voice husky and low.

"Not now-"

He grabbed my arm, yankign me into the boys locker room. I don't know why no one was in here, guess there was no PE on the last day of school, so no one came in here. He pushed me against the wall, a hand on either side of my body. Even in the dim light of the closet, I could see the smirk on his face, and his glowing red eyes. Despite how sexy it felt, I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Are you seriously doing this right now?"

His right hand found my hip, and the grip he put on it had me biting my tongue to keep from moaning. "Can't help it. You're hot."

I might as well make him fight for it. I mean, what's the fun in just going along? "I have a class to get to."

His mouth went to my throat, biting at it and making me squirm against the wall. "I'll make it quick, I promise."

I couldn't help what I said next. "Yeah, you're _really _good at that."

He pulled away, smirking like he always did, but then froze. His face did a total one-eighty, his eyes buldging and his mouth falling open. "Justin! What the hell!?"

To funny to pass up. "Can't help it, I'm bluntly honest."

I think he was blushing. Oh my God, he was! "Well keep a lid on it!"

I smirked, "I thought you said you liked my dry sense of humor."

"Not when you're talking about my sex performance!" He hissed. I ducked under his arm, stepping out fot eh locker room and back into the hallway. "That was uncalled for!"

"Sure stopped your wandering fingers though."

**Hey readers, since it's the end of the school year, this is going to be a special chapter of DR. In the review bow (or PM message if you don't want to leave your entry for the world to see) You can submit and UNLIMITED amoutn of questions, for ANY of my DR characters! (And I do mean, any!) In honor of the summer, the next chapter will be all my characters, answering them! And there's absolutely no rules about what you can/can't ask. I don't care of you post fifty questions asking explicit details about Justin and Tripp's sex life, or Kim's gynocologist. Let's just have fun with this.**

**By the way, go to RedX 17's profile, and check out all his stories on our shared character, Jay. RedX 27 is feeling underappreciated, and that boy is the Robin to my Batman, so give him some love people.**

**Oh, and a draw version of part of this chapter is available, here: imaninja41 . deviantart art / Justin-s-Dry-Humor-381169460**


	27. Did You Guys Read My Blog?

Ever since school ended, I've been permanently grounded by Bruce. Partly because he's terrified of what trouble I'd get into without school there as a safety net. And more so because of the stink bomb set off at senior graduation. They can't prove it's me, but that won't stop Bruce from getting pissy about it. So I get grounded from TV and Internet not involving vigilante needs, while Valiant, who helped me make that damn thing plead the fifth and got off scot free.

And I got grounded from my boyfriend (good luck getting him to go away Bruce, trust me, I _have _tried) so I've just been meeting up with him at DR. I gave him the address a few weeks ago, so we'll usually hook up there. Gabriel resigned as leader a few days ago, so guess who get's to be leader again? Me!

Can't say I didn't miss the job, but I can say I sure as hell don't see it as a game anymore.

And since it's a Wednesday, I'm just sitting around DR, monitoring the camera's I have set up around town, and hoping for something interesting to happen.

I thumbed through my Watchmen comic book, smirking to myself as Rorschach jumped out of the freezer on that sucker. "Symmetrical Dude is such a badass."

"If you think the old Watchmen are good, you should see the new version." Hot Shot chimed in as he passed by the computer room with a salami sandwich in hand. "I think the Cole guy is pretty cool, and that Tracey chic is hot."

I felt my comic book slip from my hands. "Wait, Hot Shot, what do you mean new version? Who are these people you speak of!?"

The thought of more Watchmen Comics was enough to make my blood pump and the very small nerdy part of me ache with a need to see them.

Raphael nodded, "New Watchmen, it's a comic that's been out for a few months. Basically, it's their kids returning to become another team after the Keene Act get's repealed."

Three seconds later, Hot Shot was looking at an empty chair, with the Watchmen graphic novel still floating in the air.

**AT MULTI-VERSE COMIC STORE:**

"Hey, Ned."

The twenty something year old guy nodded to me, putting his box of Nite owl figured down. "Hey Justin, what can I get for you?"

Ned was pretty nice, he used to be a Neo Nazi skinhead, but he claims those days are behind him. And I believe him because he's married to a black woman, and he'd raising her child, who happens to be a rape baby. I know this because I snoop into cold rape cases every now and then. He kept the shaved head look though. Honestly it looked pretty good on him.

"You looking for a Rorschach poster? We got a new style in, it's a picture of him popping out of the refrigerator."

"No thanks Ned." I shoved my hands into my leather jacket pockets, smiling at him. "I was told there was a New Watchmen comic."

His eyes brightened up, "Hell yeah there is! Check it out!"

He pointed me in the direction of the back wall, where he kept all of the best comics. I saw it immediately, a picture of a smaller Rorschach, but with a leather jacket and ripped blue jeans instead of the suit. This side kick still had the fedora though.

I got every issue I could find, which wasn't hard because so far there were only eight. I walked up to the front desk, "Ned, this is the third greatest day of my life."

He nodded, "Well if you like hero teams like this, you should check out the new Desperate Revenge comic book series."

My eyes bulged, and my mind went blank. I tried to give some form of a positive response, but I could barely breath. Eventually, I was able to get out, "Neo Nazi, say what?"

He rolled his eyes, grabbed something from under the counter, and handed it to me. "They're a more recent hero team, and DC comics just got around to making a series for them. But some of the characters, Black Hood, Speedy, Super Kid, they've had originals for awhile."

"How many issues of them are there?"

"Of DR?"

"Including Black Hood's original series."

"About eighty-"

"I'll take them all." Sorry about overusing your credit card Bruce. Actually... I'm not.

So I pretty much camped out on my living room couch with Kenya, Rango, Conan, and Hot Shot for a whole weekend, pouring over these comics, and we came to a starling conclusion.

"They didn't get anything wrong!" I finally shouted. "They got everything right! Every costume detail, they way we act, the way we all talk, even what our headquarters looks like!"

Conan nodded, "They even knew I was a clone of Super boy, manufactured in a Cadmus lab."

"They knew I grew up on the streets..." Raphael whispered.

"They know my bunny's name!" Kenya squealed, hugging the life out of her recently mended Jabberwocky. Alfred can work wonders with a needle and thread, and he covered up all the stitching by putting the little stuffed bunny in a cape and cowl. Kenya loves it even more now.

Rango let out a loud bark, which probably meant something along the lines of, 'They knew I love bacon!'

I rolled my eyes, "Rango, everyone knows that. But the important part is, THEY EVEN KNOW ALL OF OUR SEX RELATIONSHIPS! These comic people even know Tripp is Satan's son!"

"Holy shit!" Conan hissed, "Look at the back page!"

I flipped my comic over, and my eyes bulged out. In bold writing it said: **All things known about these characters are from an anonymous high school student's tips.**

"Who the hell-"

"I know who it is." I interrupted Conan. "Valliant..."

**ON THE PHONE WITH VALLIANT:**

"You sold them all our personal information for two million dollars!?" I shouted.

"Not your personal info, they don't even know you guys real names, or anything." She reasoned, "I just sold them your personalities, and adventures."

"I'm still going to bitch your ear off about this next time I see you." I threatened.

"I figured, see ya later."

"Bye."

I hung up, glaring at my phone, "That gossipy bitch sold us out."

Conan groaned, and Hot Shot's hands lit up, igniting the Black Hood Issue 23 in his hands. "You're buying me a new one of those! That's the music based issue!"

"Sorry..."

"Justin!" Conan hissed, "What are we gonna do about this!? The readers know everything, even about our adventure in that other dimension with Nazi-Jason."

"Conan! Calm your Krypton ass down. If Barney Stinson has taught me anything, it's that a blog will solve everything!"

**LATER THAT EVENING:**

"There!" I said contently, "The blog is open, most of DR is online waiting to answer questions directed to them and all I have to do is wait for questions."

The computer beeped.

Darklordz: Dear Black Hood! What exactly is your height? And how thick are you? Like meaty or muscled or scrawny?

I raised an eyebrow, typing away at the computer.

Black Hood: I'm pretty sure that it's obvious from the art in my comic books, and the huge thugs I have to fight every night, I'm pretty damn well-muscled. And Blue Jay is five foot three, and I've actually grown two inches this year, making me taller at a whopping five foot five! my dad is still six foot four... I'll catch up eventually.

RivalsAreAllies: BLACK HOOD! Who's the screamer? You or Tripp?

My eyes widened, "This is worse than teen chat rooms."

Black Hood: Neither. I don't scream, I curse, and Tripp doesn't scream either, he just talks to damn much.

RivalsAreAllies: TRIPP! Who's the screamer? You or Black Hood?

Tripp: She does curse... but I don't talk to much! I give you character building encouragements in the heat of the moment.

Black Hood: You once told me to 'taste the rainbow' while we were making out.

Tripp: I DID NOT!

Black Hood: Who the hell even told you about this blog?

Tripp: Your mom.

Black Hood: I kill you.

RivalsAreAllies: ANN: ...Honestly, how weird is it living with your clone? Like, honestly? How are you not as insane as the REST of the "BatFamily?!"

"Does this guy have no life?" I mumbled.

Ann: I have no idea what you're talking about. I am the clone, I'm not living with one. And I might not be crazy yet but... I'm getting there. Justin helps with that.

Black Hood: I try.

RAA (tired of spelling out my own username): JAY: How is it not weird making love to your girl, when her clone is a few doors down...seriously?

Jay: Kim is not Ann's clone, it's the other way around. Dummy. And to answer honestly, Ann has all of Kim's memories, and because of our telepathic connection, I have them to. So I know everything about Kim and Jason's bedroom life. It sucks...

I feel like I'm gonna barf.

RAA: Red Hood: How much has your alcohol consumption gone up, since all this shit has started?

Red Hood: A. LOT. And now that my kid has decided to do this dumb blog, I'm going to be, _literally_, using a syringe to get the proper dosage of alcohol directly into my blood stream.

Blue Jay: He's just drinking wine...

Red Hood: KIM!

RAA: TRIPP: You say that you just want Justin's body, and no love. If that is the case, what you do if Justin, for some reason, or other, just up and left...died, or something, I don't know. You get it. What would happen, or what would be your reaction?

Tripp: Preserve the body.

Red Hood: KEEP YOUR DEMON HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER'S CORPSE!

Tripp: Fine, I'll just visit her in Hell whenever I get an ache.

Black Hood: Your father's torture sounds better.

Tripp: ouch.

RAA: BLUE JAY: How weird is it having your fiancée's younger former protégé/sidekick/kind of-son in the same house, as you, while he shags your clone? How much has YOUR alcohol consumption gone up?

Blue Jay: I'm straightedge. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs.

Red Hood: Meaning she's a great designated driver. It works out great for our relationship.

Black Hood: Are you seriously going to keep asking how every 'feels' about my mother's clone!? Get life... nerd.

RAA: KENYA: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?

I looked over to the little blonde toddler, "Hey Kenya, ya wanna answer this guy's question?"

"Otay!"

Kenya scurried up onto my lap, and started typing.

Kenya: I wanna be a pink bunny!

Red Hood: Never get any older.

RAA: KENYA: Who's sidekick are you going to be when you get a few years older? Your dad's? Uncle Dick's? Uncle Tim's? Aunt Steph's? Aunt Cass's? Grandpa Bruce's?

Kenya: None. I wanna be my Mommy's sidekick!

Blue Jay: Aww...

NightWing: Wait... you mean... I'M NOT GETTING A PINK SIDEKICK!?

Black Hood: Queer.

RAA: KENYA AND JASON: If (in a few YEARS), when/if Batman needed a new "Robin," would Jason allow/let Kenya be that symbol? ...And would Kenya want to? Or not?

RedHood: You think I'm going to let either one of my daughters attempt to do a job I died doing? If Kenya is gonna be Robin, I better be the Goddamn Batman.

NightWing: Jason, our past experiences have proved I would be Batman.

RedHood: Then Kenya will never be Robin.

Kenya: And I wouldn't be Robin. That's Dami's job. I want to be... Pink Bunny!

Jay: One track mind with this one.

RAA: DAMIAN: How much do you love Iris West?

Black Hood: Who?

SONOFBATMAN: I WILL TEAR OUT YOUR INTRAILS WITH MY SWORD, POUR GASSOLINE INTO THE GAPING HOLE OF YOUR STOMACH, AND DROP A MATCH ON YOU!

RAA: SERIOUSLY, How much do you love her, you little demon?! I need to know for MY FanFic, haha (and, remember, I write for you, too, so answer truthfully, wisely!)?

Black Hood: YOU HAVE A CRUSH!? AND I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT!?

SONOFBATMAN: Shut up Todd. I have no feelings toawrds this girl!

RAA: JUSTIN: Did you know that Dami had a little crush?

Black Hood: No I did not... thank you nerd!

RAA: JUSTIN: Are you now going to use this information to get back at him, or make his life a living hell (or, better yet, both!)?!

Black Hood: Do you even have to ask? Fine. HELL YES! Where is this girl?! I need to talk to her!

RAA: CONAN: What is your Kryptonian Name?

Conan: Uh... I can't spell it.

RAA: CONAN: Has Grandpa Kal-El/Clark-Kent, or Daddy Kon-El/Conner-Kent EVER taken you to the LAST piece of Krypton, that remains ("The Floating 'Lost City of Argo,'"), in-order to train her (because the gravity there is 100X greater, and the sun is 1000000000000X WEAKER, and, as such, most Kryptonians would be ONLY as strong, durable as a Human, and as such, it is the PERFECT place to strengthen and control her HUMAN BODY, so that her body can learn to strengthen and control her powers [when near a powerful, yellow star/sun]), and/or give her a taste of her true/background culture/heritage? And, if not (which they really should have), then has she ever been to space?

Conan: Number one, you know WAY to much. I'm going to need to talk with you. Number two, You realize Superboy is only half kryptonian, right? And I only have half of Superboy's DNA, and the other half was from a doctor at Cadmus. So technically, I'm only one fourth Kryptonian. True, going to Krypton for a full Kryptonian would only make them have human level strength, but to someone who is only one fourth Kryptonian, it would pretty much be like taking a human there. I'd most likely get crushed by the extreme pressure.

RAA: CONAN: How's Jenny? You two still together and stuff? How's Ma and Pa Kent feel about your relationship? Good? How's the rest of your family feel?

Conan: I'm still with Jenny. She's really nice, but if she get's pissed, she's deadlier than kryptonite... Ma and Pa are still awkward about it, it's just how they were raised. Grandpa Clark is just kind of ignoring it... Kara teases me about my girlfriend, and Dad is really nice about it. He actually hijacked me into being his wingman. Me and Jenny got him laid...

RAA: SNOW: Have you looked into getting NEW mentor/master, after your last one...didn't quite work-out?...perhaps "Raven?" ...She IS a member of the Justice League, after all...and would totally understand you situation...and, plus, she's badass. XD So?

Snow: No. I actually feel more comfortable doing independent study. She's one of the best Necromancers ever to live, and I don't want to bother her. It's not that important anyways.

RAA: RAPHAEL: How's the relationship between you and Snow working-out? Good? Bad? Eh?

Keroscene: I'm young, I'm fine, I'm smooth, and she's an incredibly powerful magic user who frightens easily. It's a wonder I'm not dead yet.

Snow: Sorry Raph...

Black Hood: Aw! She's got a cute nickname for you! It's adorable.

Keroscene: Don't be hatin' just cause you missed out on this A grade American beef!

Tripp: Justin, who is this guy?

Keroscene: I used to date Justin. All those noises she makes for you? Made them for me first.

Black Hood: He kissed me once, met my father, and was so scared to ever kiss me again.

Tripp: At first I though you were going to be a problem for me, now I see you're a spineless coward I don't even have to worry about competing with.

Keroscene: I'm dating a necromancer, if I was a coward, I never would have tried to kiss her.

RAA: CLARK-KENT/KAL-EL (A.K.A. "SUPERMAN"): ...Dude...how is it that you have a granddaughter...and you STILL haven't knocked Lois up?! Shouldn't you get on that, "Man of Steel?" ...Or is the "Steel," not, um, "steely," anymore?! XD

Conan: I'm sitting right next to him... His laser eyes just blew up his computer.

RAA: BRUCE WAYNE (A.K.A. "BATMAN"): How the hell are YOU putting up with all of this shit?! ...Are you...man, honestly, how do you feel about Jason being home? And, really, how do you feel about EVERYTHING else?!

GODDAMNBATMAN: (batglare)

RedHood: I actually want to hear this.

SONOFBATMAN: Father, tell Todd you do not care about him.

GODDAMNBATMAN: (batglare)

Blue Jay: Boys, that's the only answer you'll get out of him.

GODDAMNBATMAN: Justin, you're grounded for making this blog.

RedHood: No she isn't. She's my kids, not yours old man.

NightWing: BUUUUURRRRRRNNNNN!

RAA: KYLER: Did you know that you have an Aunt Mia? If not, then you should totally ask you dad about her... XD

Speedy: ... GRANDPA OLLIE! We've gotta talk.

RAA: MICHAEL: You sleeping with Mary, yet?

Mary: We've all taken a vow of abstinence. We cannot serve flesh and serve God.

Michael: Doesn't mean I haven't thought about it.

Mary: Michael, go confess your sins. Now.

Michael: Yes mother.

RAA: MARY: You let Michael sleep with you, yet?

Mary: You are a sin filled, idiotic, internet troll.

BlackHood: LOL

RAA: GABRIEL: Yo...I haven't heard about you in while, man...how's it been? You gettin' into any specific girl's pants? Or are you still single and lonely?

Gabriel: Single and lonely, just like you.

Black Hood: BURRRRRRNN!

RAA: TALIA: ...Hahahahaha, your son is gonna marry a SPEEDSTER! HOW'S THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?! BUUUUUUURN! HAHAHAHAHA! (*Protection From Her Killing Me*)

BlackHood: Uh, she isn't on here. She's in Russia dude. But how's about i answer for her? (assumes a position that makes me look like i have a stick up my ass, and puts on fake boobs) "I forbid it Damian!"

SONOFBATMAN: Todd. Sleep with one eye open tonight.

Tripp: She'll have both eyes open, and she'll be shouting some R-rated stuff.

RedHood: Justin?

BlackHood: He's just trolling, Dad.

RAA: MARTIAN MANHUNTER: You HAVE to be able to see all of this shit that's going on down here...how do YOU feel about this..?

PimpingMartian: I do see all that has gone on in this family. I am greatly concerned.

BlackHood: Are you just as concerned about your niece's costume, and the fact she got it from a sex store?

RedRobinYUUUUUUUM: Justin, you're cruising for a mind wiping.

BlackHood: Worth it.

RAA: DIANA (A.K.A. "WONDER-WOMAN"): Okay, Diana, you have been through MORE shit, than SOME of the "BatFam." You have "H2H-Combat-Skill," equally even to Bruce Wayne and Lady Shiva (WITHOUT your powers), your strength, durability, and seed, are ABOVE Superman's (and EQUAL to him, with your controller bracers ON), you have the wisdom of the Goddess Athena (Goddess of Strategy), you WILL AND HAVE KILLED when it is NECESSARY, and ONLY when NECESSARY, and you have magic weapons...so, as the INTEGRAL "DC-Comics-Female-Role-Model," how do YOU feel about all that is going on? Is there ANYTHING that YOU would want to say/do/act-out towards/for our characters (mostly for female characters)?

Princess Diana: Kyler, you are an example to young women everywhere. Conan, while your physical strength is admirable, your inner strength needs much work. Snow, you survived hundred of years by staying quiet, and not getting involved. Those days are over, and you must come out of your shell, then you will obtain more power than you have ever dreamed of. Mary, you're a strong willed, opinionated young woman, but supporting your faith does not mean degrading everyone around you. Justin, you are the most disrespectful young person I have ever met. You cause your family constant grief, and you put yourself in needless danger to higher your oppinion of yourself. If this continues, you will wind up dead before your time. Your decisions have already nearly led to the deaths of those closest to you. The most recent example is your own faithful hound, Rango. You are not suited for the life of a vigilante, let alone the life of a Bat.

BlackHood: Well screw you, slut! At least I don't fly around with my ass hanging our of my suit!

RAA: WALLY WEST: Did you know that Dami had a crush on your daughter (*Protection From Damian*)

Speedster-Dad: Bruce, you mind if I stop by to visit?

GODDAMNBATMAN: Stay the hell away from my son! Damian, hide!

RAA: IRIS WEST: Did you know that Dami had a crush on you?! (*SUUUUUPER PROTECTION FROM DAMIAN*)

Ginger-With-No-Shoe-Sole: Hee hee!

BlackHood: Dear God, this RivalsAreAllies guy is trying to make us kill each other.

Jay: You just figure that out kid?

RAA: OLIVER QUEEN: You are legend, and an immortal, incorruptible, AWESOME symbol/instrument/hero, JUST LIKE Batman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc...so, how do you feel about YOUR grand-baby? Are you proud of her? And what about the rest of the characters?

Wannaknowwheremyarrowis1: You bet I'm proud of that kid! Hey Roy, why couldn't you be that great of a sidekick?

Wannaknowwheremyarrowis2: Ollie, you suck.

Speedy: Exhibit A, my dysfunctional family!

RAA: JAY: Would you let Justin babysit for you if you knocked Ann up?

Jay: Thanks for giving me a heart attack. To answer your question, hell no.

BlackHood: Good. I don't want to.

RAA: JAY: IS Ann knocked up? You sure?!

Jay: ANN! SWEETIE! You aren't... right?

Ann:...

Jay: HOLYJESUSHELLNO!

RAA: ANN: Are you knocked up?!

Ann: Of course not idiot.

RAA: DAMIAN: Do you forgive me? (*Dodged Knives*)

SONOFBATMAN: NEVER!

RAA: STEPH: ...How would you describe your living situation with the rest of the "BatFam?" How would you describe your relationship with EACH AND EVERY ONE of them? Are you currently giving it to Tim? Or are you guys off again? XD

EggplantPurple: I've moved onto bigger fish.

RAA: DICK: Are you and Barbara still a thing (man, I hope so)?

NightWing: WHY MUST YOU BRING ME SO MUCH PAIN!?

RAA: BARBARA: How weird did sex between you and Dick become, after the wheelchair? Also, where've you been this whole story?!

O: It's not like I used my legs much in bed anyways. And what you do not understand little boy, is I have been here the whole time. Watching. Listening. ROTFLing. Mostly at Justin.

BlackHood: Am I the only one who doesn't understand who O is?

RedHood: You don't wanna know Justin.

RAA: JASON: Did you know...THAT JUSTIN ISN'T A VIRGIN ANYMORE?!

RedHood: Justin!?

BlackHood: He's a dirty rotten liar!

Tripp: No he isn't.

BlackHood: They're both liars!

Tripp: You're daughter is awesome at making out.

RedHood: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

BlackHood: TRIPP HAS A SMALL PENIS!

NightWing: HAHAHAHAHA

RedRobinYUUUUUUUM: Sucks to be you kid.

Blue Jay: Justin, we need to have a talk.

Raphael: Justin had sex, and she didn't eat the guys head afterwards!?

RedHood: I WILL KILL YOU- Wait, Justin, how small are we talking?

BlackHood: About four inches.

RedHood: I don't have to worry about you and my little girl for long. You'll drag yourself down.

BlackHood: HAHA! Love ya Dad!

RedHood: You still my little girl?

BlackHood: Is a Butterfly knife double edged?

RedHood: Thank God.

Tripp: MY PENIS IS THIRTEEN INCHES!

BlackHood: Minus nine.

Tripp: Justin, can I come over?

RedHood: Fine by me.

BlackHood: Really?

RedHood: I actually don't believe you'd ever settle for a guy with such a small wanger. You might keep him around for awhile, but the way I see it, he'll dig his own grave, and you'll move onto someone I'll actually have to worry about.

Tripp: Are you people trying to hurt my feelings!? If so, you are succeeding!

SUPER=GAY: Hey BlackHood, we all know that you and vamp boy do the smoosh smoosh, so tell me, what the most embarrassing thing he does in sex?

Tripp: DON'T YOU DARE!

Justin: I'm going to have so much fun with this!

Tripp: NOOOOO!

Justin: When Tripp releases, he stretches his wings out as far as they'll go, throws his head back, bares his fangs, and hisses like a corny vampire movie's dramatic scene as the boss vampire get's staked.

Tripp: NO I DON'T!

RedHood: Ha! Yeah, you ain't gonna be around for much longer, are you?

BlueJay: Don't even go there Jason. I'll tell everyone here what you do when you come.

RedHood: Don't know what you mean. I'm a sex god! Everything I do makes you hotter.

BlackHood: I DON'T WANNT READ THIS! MOM DON'T SAY ANYTHING!

NightWing: I wanna hear it!

SONOFBATMAN: Please tell me how inferior Todd is regarding bedroom behavior!

BlueJay: When Jason releases, he sounds like a dying cat, with the slightest sound of a violin string snapping, mid song.

BlackHood: MOM!

RedHood: NO I DON'T!

NightWing: HAHAHAHAHA!

RedRobinYUUUUUUUM: Sucks for you Kim. Just to let you know, I'm pleasantly quiet in the bed.

RedHood: I'll kill you Tim.

BlackHood: I'll kill you Tim.

RedRobinYUUUUUUUM: Just a joke! I'd never touch your woman! ...unless she wanted me to...

RedHood: I'll kill you Tim!

BlackHood: I'll kill you Tim!

SUPER=GAY: Hey Tripp, how did it feel to pop Justin's cherry?

BlackHood: I'll kick you off this chat.

Tripp: I don't know what you mean, Justin wasn't a virgin when we met.

I felt a large disturbance in the force.

Speedy: Say what now?

Super Kid: Didn't know Raphael had it in him.

Keroscene: Don't look at me, I kissed her, and that's it.

NightWing: Justin, how have you not told me this!?

Tripp: Wait, was Raphael the only boyfriend she ever had?

Jay: We were surprised she wasn't a lesbian, OF COURSE Raphael was the only one other than you.

Ann: Spill Justin.

RedRobinYUUUUUUUM: I'd like to hear this.

BlackHood: It's not like I kept it secret from you guys, I distinctly remember telling everyone in my family about him.

Ann: Now I'm curious.

SONOFBATMAN: Justin, tell me whom I have to kill.

RedHood: Young lady, we need to have a talk.

BlackHood: Oh joy.

Tripp: Can you at least tell us all, WHEN you and your oh so special boy toy took what i should have taken?

BlackHood: Keep talking about my body like it's yours to possess, and I'll shoot you in the face.

Tripp: Can you please tell me?

Super Kid: I want to know!

Speedy: I can't believe I don't already know.

BlackHood: I told you all a little after Christmas!

Kenya: Jack Frost!

Tripp: LIAR! Jack Frost is a queer!

BlackHood: Then he must have put up a friggin refugee camp in the closet when I met him.

SUPER=GAY: Tripp, how the hell did you convince Justin to engage in S&M?

Tripp: Again, don't know what your talking about. What me and Justin do is far from S&M, it isn't even light Dom/Sub.

BlackHood: Shut up Tripp!

Speedy: You lied to me!?

BlackHood: And what? You shocked and disappointed? I'm mentally disturbed.

Tripp: What me and Justin do in the bedroom is far from S&M. S&M has a slave, and a master. With me and Justin, no one gives orders, and no one takes them (willingly). Once I bolt the door shut, we pretty much try and kill each other.

Speedy: Why would you not tell me this?

BlackHood: You already think that I need therapy, if I told you my version of foreplay was trying to snap my boyfriend's neck, you'd force me into a Looney bin.

A pale hand suddenly snapped my laptop shut, "Justin, me and you need to have a talk about this blog..."

I rolled my eyes, "Tripp, don't you make any noise when you enter a room!?"

Kenya smiled up at Tripp, "Are you the vampire Justy is dating?"

"Yeah."

"Are you two gonna fall in love? Is Justin gonna want to be a vampire? Do you not want her to be a vampire? Is there going to be a love triangle with a werewolf? Are you two gonna get married? Are you gonna have a half vampire-half human baby?" Kenya asked.

Tripp stared at Kenya for a few seconds, "Kenya, if your sister gets pregnant, it's a deal breaker."

"Oh joy." I grumbled.

Tripp just smirked.


	28. Ann's Birthday! (Jay Is Still A Jerk)

I figured I should take a break from Tripp (and our bedroom warfare) and go out on patrol. Mostly because I broke his arm the last time we were doing it. He said he would heal once the moon came up, but I still made him let me put it in a brace. The weather was decent, but the action was slow. I stopped a few murders, two rapists, and took down a gang for fun.

So I was pretty bored until I saw this flash of black wiz past me. I immediately got into a defensive stance and stared at the shadowed corner of the roof I'm on.

"I see you." I said smugly, as the figure stepped out. My eyes widened as I saw what they were wearing.

This dude is wearing black segmented body armor with a red x on his face and chest. He's also got a gray utility belt and… I think that's some sort of backpack/pouch type thing on his back. It kind of looks like one of the old prototype's Bruce used during his first couple years as the Batman.

"There a reason your dressed like one of the Batman's little helpers? 'cause honestly, you look like a cosplayer that took it to far." I smirk at him and keep my stance.

"So, it's true what they say kid, your going to talk me to death before we can get to the good stuff." His voice is distorted, and sounds almost robotic.

He beckons me over with his hand, and points at his chest "Come on kid, X marks the spot.".

"You're on." Please, this isn't going to be nearly as long as he thinks. I run at him full speed, but in the instance it takes me to get to him, he reached out for me with one arm, falling back and lifting me with his feet. I fly out on the roof and and tumble a few feet, a bit pissed because now my recent bruises from Tripp are stinging even more.

I rush up and run towards him. He quickly blocks my punch, then twists me into the wall and lands three quick punches into my stomach. And this dude can hit, I'll give him that! They way this dude is moving, I thought I was in a Bruce Lee flick for a second.

Coughing, I throw two batarangs at him. But as quickly as I threw them, he threw two shuriken shaped like an X, canceling the batarang's out.

The dude chuckles a little, than raise his hands up in surrender.

"Ok kid, I think this has gone on long enough." He goes for his mask and removes it, reveling a red domino mask underneath. The man has slightly shaggy black hair and stubble on his face.

"So what do you think of the costume, little girl?" Oh you have got to be kidding me!

"Jay? What the hell are you doing in a costume?! More importantly, why the hell are you bugging me?"

Jay just chuckles. "Well, I've been going out in costume for weeks, you're just never around. And the punches were for the dress prank."

A for a moment, I really wished I was Kryptonian, because then the imaginary holes I'm glaring into his forehead will be real.

I'm torn from my thought's when we here a scream, and race towards an alley to find three thugs on top of a young woman. I crack my knuckles and get ready for another round of 'Kill the rapists' when Jay put's his hand on my shoulder.

"What numbnut's?"

"There mine." I forgot he put a voice modifier in that stupid mask.

"Pfff, fine just try not to die. I don't feel like carrying a corpse on my bike. Just cleaned it."

Jay jump down, and lands with a thud. The men look at him, and instead of being scared, they laugh.

"The hell is this?" I guess that one's the leader.

His friend pipe's up "Looks like new meat for those bat bastard's." The last one just look's Jay up and down.

"Let her go and I won't kill you this time. Give you a chance to get out of the life."

Oh my god, this guy's a bigger jackass than I thought! He's actually got me hoping those bastards kill him.

The rapists think it's funny too. "Um, i think no is the answer. 'Sides, we all know the hoods is the only ones who kill's in these part's. The bat's don't got the stomach for it."

They take out there gun's and point at him. Jay sigh's , then his hands slip to the pouches in his belt.

"I knew you'd say that, but I had to offer." Then in the blink of an eye, Jay throws six red throwing stars in each of there eyes. The rapists fall to the ground screaming. " Aaauuugghhh!"

" Tell your friend the man who did this to you was Red X." Red X walks over to the girl, and helps her up. She looks terrified, and she's shacking.

" I sent out a call to the police a moment before I showed up. It would help them stay in prison if you stayed to file charges." X slowly walks into the shadow's of the alley. "I'll be watching until they get here, you won't see me though. Try to stay safe."

The woman just looks around, trying to find him. She whispers, "Thank you."

I'm pulled from my thought's when Jay appears behind me. "You called the cops already, right?"

"_Yes_." I say it with all the venom I can muster. I _hate _this bastard! Barely been out here at all, and acting like he's Batman!

"Then come on, let's get back to the house."

We ride back to the batcave, and see Tim ask Ann to spare with him. Based on the way he's ogling her ass, he just wants to flirt and try to cope a feel. Jay doesn't show it, but I can tell he's pissed.

They step into the ring, and Ann turns to Jay an says "This is for you babe."

Jay smirks and Tim says "Rule one little girl, never turn away from your opponent." He throws a punch, but Ann ducks, graps his arm, flips him over and puts him in a arm hold.

Ann smirks down at him and says, "I may not be as good as Kim yet, but I'm her clone, and I'm combat proficient" Ann gives arm a slight twist to get her point across "Remember that the next time you try to make a move on me in front of Jay, 'little girl'."

Ann then walks over to Jay and wraps her arms around his neck.

"That's my girl." Jay tells her with a smirk.

"And don't you doubt it." She the closes the gap between their lips.

I scowl, "Unbelievable, I'm actually starting to respect her!"

Tim glares at me, "Who'se side are you on!?"

"Tim, if your pecker needs some attention, call up that girl from London, you can sex her up while I talk to her brother, and make him move again!" Justin smirked, "Oh yeah, that actually is a good idea, come on Tim! I wanna piss off the British again!"

Alfred pops up behind me, "Consider it done. And reconsider your actions next time you decide to try and swap around my spice jars."

He wacks me on the head with a wooden spoon, and leaves. I glare at Damian, "It was you."

Damian smirks, "No, _you _switched the cinnamon and chili powder around, as well as the salt and sugar. At least, that's what people will believe."\

"... Punk ass."

"Well I learned from the best." Damian spat.

I pause, before grinning, "Huh, I guess you did. Nice job Damian."

Damian and I leave, but Ann and Jay stay behind.

"Ok, examen sorpresa tiempo." Jay smirked at her frown. Ann hates when he tests her on the languages she can speak.

"¿Tengo que hacerlo? Usted ya sabe lo que puedo hablar español tan bien como Inglés. Mi japonés es suficiente para mantener una conversación, y puedo recoger algunas palabras en chino y Russuan como Kim."

Jay sighs, "Fine, but I still think it's hot."

Ann just shakes her head, and they head up stares.  
**  
THE NEXT MORNING, ANN'S POINT OF VEIW:**

I wake up and stretch. I look at my clock and see it's 9:15. Thank god for Saturdays! I hated going to classes when I was a kid, and I still hate it. No wonder Kim dropped out after her first semester.

I take a quick shower, than throw on a blue top and dark gray cargo jeans. I look myself over in the mirror.

"I really need a haircut, this is getting to be to much." I say to myself with a frown.

I open my door, but to my surprise, Kim, Barbara, and Stephanie are waiting outside my door, smiling like crazy people.

"Uh… morning guys. What's up?" They smile even wider.

Kim speaks first. "Jay told us what today is." I looked at her a bit puzzled.

"What's special about today?" I ask them, honestly confused.

Steph speaks this time, "It's your Birthday dummy!"

My eye's widen. I can't believe I forgot my own birthday! Guess the date I was created in a lab kind of slipped my mind.

Barbara speaks this time. "Jay told us this morning. He asked us to tell you he's sorry he's going to be gone for a few hours, but to make it up to you he bout us all a spa day!"

"Jay did what?! Uh, not to spoil the party, but-" Babs puts her hand over my mouth, cutting me off.

"No buts, your coming with us if we have to gag and hog tie you, capice?"

I nod franticly. We head out to the car, but before I get in, Kim starts talking to me.

"By the way, Cassandra said that she's sorry she couldn't come, but says happy birthday."

I smirk at that.

The spa was nice. It was very relaxing, until I remembered the promise I made Jay.  
_  
"Look, I'm sorry. But we've been "taking it slow" for over a year and I'm about to the point where if you bend over in front of me I can't be held responsible for my actions!"_

Ann laughs. "Ok Romeo, how about till my birthday? Then I'll be "20"offically an adult and you can give me a great birthday present?"  
  
Jay's buttering me up! Of all the- my train of thought was distracted by the warmth of the steam bath. On second thought, at least he's doing it in style.

We leave the spa, but instead of going straight home, Stephanie stops at a Salon.

"Wait, what are we doing here?" I ask as we walk in, pop music playing on the speakers.

"Jay told us to get you a haircut while we were out. He said he'd already made an appointment and picked out the style. All you have to do is sit in the chair."

My face paled. My boyfriend picked out my new haircut, and hired a stranger to cut it? Kim, seeing my distress, patted me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, he showed it to us to make sure. Your going to love it Ann."

I give her a nervous smile, and sit in the chair with my eye's closed and fingers crossed the whole time. After the haircut is finished, I get out of the chair, and hesitantly look in the mirror. It's a pixie cut. Jay got me a pixie cut, and it looks amazing!

I go see the girls, and they are more than supportive. Steph even wolf whistles.

"You look amazing' sista!" Stephanie shouts.

I nod bashfully. "Yep, I guess Jay put more thought into this than I thought he did."

He's still going to get it for choosing my haircut. It's spectacular, but that's not the point!

When we get back to the manor, Jason, Rango, Justin, Kenya, and Alfred are waiting in the den for us.

"Happy birthday!" Kenya squeals as she rushes up and hugs my leg. I bend down to hug her back. Rango runs up and licks me.

"Thank you so much sweetie." I look around for Jay, but he's not in the room.

"Hey Jason, where's my boyfriend?" Jason scratches the back of his neck.

"Well, Jay had to take care of a few things, he got home twenty minutes ago. And everybody else wasn't able to come, so they all left you cards in your room."

Jason motions over to the table in the room. A cup cake with a candle in it and three presents are there.

"Don't start without me guys!" Jay rushes in, and I have to do a double take. His hair is much shorter, making him look more like Jason, and he shaved of his stubble.

He gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, than gives me the first present.

"This one is from Kim, me and Dick." Barbara tells me before I open it. I open up their present and I keel over laughing as I turn red.

"Do you like them?" Babs asks.

"Come on show us what she got you." Jay says.

Jason looks over my shoulder and into the bag and starts laughing. Kim starts laughing to, "I figured you would laugh!" Kim says.

Suddenly Jason speaks, "Yeah go ahead, show them what they got you."

I lift out of the bag five bras that are 36 C just like me. One has the bat symbol all over it. The second one is red and laced. The third one baby blue and has dark blue dots all over it. The fourth one is leopard print. The last one makes me look at all the guys. Jay's face goes bright red. This bra is hot pink with black lace all over it. This is the sexiest bra that I now own.

I put the bras back in the bag and then I hear Justine, "Wow Jay, you must be loving the gift that she got."

Jay sits next to me . He goes to say something but Jason cuts him off, "So Jay, what did you get her? A gift card to Victoria's Secret or maybe a box of candy?" Kim swats him on the shoulder.

He hands me a large wrapped box. I tear the paper off gently and then I lift the top of the box. "Oh my God I'm speechless. Jay you didn't have to do that."

I say as I pull out the gift. It's a Blue Jay costume, except it's dark red. All the Blue Jay gear is in here, but instead of a blue wig, there's a black one.

"I've been working on it for a couple weeks. The shoes are insulated, and the fabrics are fire proof and lined with Kevlar. I know it's not the same, but I thought you'd like it."

I stop him with a kiss. After about three minutes we have to break for air, and Jay's got a satisfied smirk on his face.

Jason whispers to Kim, "I think she liked it." Kim looks at Jason like he's stupid, and whispers back to him, "Ya think?!"

Jason hands me the last present. "This one is from… Justine?!" We all look at her shocked, even Rango.

Justine blushes crimson. "What? I can be nice if I want to!"

I hesitantly go to open it, when Jay stops me. "Wait a second!" He then rushes out of the room, and a minute later comes back with a device in his hand. He starts scanning the present.

"What is _that_?" I ask.

"Geiger counter. It checks out. No radiation, and not the right weight for an explosive."

Justin shorted, "Oh please, if i wanted to kill her, I wouldn't hand her a bomb that she's going to open while me, and the person I love most in my family are in the room!"

Jay paused, "Kim or Jason?"

"Rango, idiot." Upon hearing his name, Rango lept onto Justin's lap, showering her face with his tongue. "Rango no! You lick your asshole with that!"

Jay smirked, and before I could stop him said, "So does Tripp, you let his tongue go into your mouth!"

"I hate you Jay!"

"Love you too kid."

I shake my head at them both, then slowly open the present. It's a small rectangular box. But inside it is… a knife? I look at Justine surprised.

She's blushing very hard. "It's the knife I'm always throwing at you."

Wait, is this Justin's way of saying she's never going to Everybody looks like there about to say "awwww" but I beat them to it.

"Thank you, Justin." I go up to hug her, but she put's an arm out to stop me.

"No hugs, I might not ever throw that knife at you again, but I don't like you _that _much."

So, new hair cut, spa day, new costume going out in tonight, and Justine Todd accepting me. Best. Birthday. _Ever_!

**By the way, Justin still answers questions on her blog, as with the rest of my characters. So if you still have any questions, put them in your review, but I'm not going to make a whole chapter out of them, EVER again, so I'm gonna have to limit you all to three questions each, per chapter.**


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